Dyme and the Dozen
by dragonnova
Summary: The Sequel to "Pain in the Axel": a week has passed since 'the incident', now Axel and Roxas set out to find the secrets of the Elixir.
1. Mitternacht

**Quickie blah blah: **Here we go! the sequel to PitA! There was so much I wanted to cover in PitA but didn't get the chance, but then due to the popularity of my story (which WOWZERS!! I LOVE YOU ALL!! such a shocker, I can't tell you how happy that made me!) anyway... because you all liked PitA here and on DA I thought I'd go ahead with a sequel.

And the usual note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's characters, they belong to Square Enix and Disney.

Starting at track 4 my beta reader is Darkblade from DA, thank you so much Darkblade!! the first three chapters have not been.. but I think they're fine because some nice watchers and friends on DA pointed out any flaws and I fixed them right away.

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_(The Sequel to Pain in the Axel)_

**Dyme and the Dozen**

Kingdom Hearts Organization XIII Fiction

by Dragonnova

Track 1: Mitternacht

Pale silver moon light played off the white corridors; it's gentle touch seemed to reach into the veiled corners of every darkened room, illuminating the secrets that would normally be lost to all in the night. Dark secrets brought on by dark dreams, things that shouldn't exist in a world that shouldn't have ever existed.

This night was like most nights in the World that Never Was, Quiet and eerily peaceful. Yet despite the peace that seemed to fill the corridors bringing unknown dreams to the inhabitants of the castle, there was still something not quite right. Something dreadfully cold and ominous was hanging in the air, a threat that was lying in wait in the darkest part of the castle. Hidden and forgotten by nearly all but one…

Tick  
Tick  
Tick

Covers rustled, a faint moan escaped from underneath the light blue comforter that was snugly entwined around some mysterious form. Without warning the cover ripped back as an exasperated grunt echoed, breaking the silence. Light blue eyes stared into the dim room towards the shadows that seemed to dance across the open canvas of the ceiling. Pale silver moonlight reached out to him, beckoning him to awaken and keep its heart shape master some company during the night.

His head turned; as yet another sigh of exasperation managed somehow to escape a pair of tightly drawn lips. Kingdom Hearts was shining brilliantly this night, only adding to the problem he was experiencing.

Suddenly the young man sat up, swinging bare feet over the side of the bed, yet not letting them touch the cold ground below. A tired hand slowly rose, running through the sleep tousled blondish locks that where now laying freely in front of his eyes and framing his face with a sort of soft moonlit halo.

"Why do you have to be SO loud…" a weak voice groaned into the darkness, as a tired hand fumbled for the clock the rested on his night stand.

The blonde held the time device up, inspecting it for a second before he gave it a good shake. "All I want is some sleep… why can't you let me sleep?…" he pleaded with the inanimate object resting in his palms.  
It was a fact of life, even lives without hearts, when you want perfect silence you can never find it; just as perfect darkness never exists when all you want is the peace that can bring you sleep. To those who suffer insomnia, even the slight ticking of a small clock can be enough to unnerve you and keep you from the waiting arms of whatever dream decided to visit you during the late hours. You may as well have a herd of Chocobo go stomping through your room at 3am. He knew this well, nothing would stop the ticking as long as that clock ran, and he wouldn't be able to sleep until it did.

He set the offending time device down on the night stand again, slowly pulling his hand up until all but one of his fingers was removed from the top of the object. His heavy eyelids lowered slightly as he held a finger on the device. The clock started to hiss, the hands spun for a second before falling limply to the six, the metal casing cracked along the seam and separated just slightly in one of it's weak spots as small streams of water burst from the inside of the clock.

It was now dead.

A faint little smile pulled at his lips as he snuggled back into the cool covers of his bed, pulling his blankets up over himself once again. A sigh of relief escaped him, turning into a full-fledged yawn as he nestled his cheek into the pillow and finally let gravity take its toll on his tired eyelids.

Tick  
Tick  
Tick

Light blue eyes suddenly fluttered open, he shifted turning to look over at the dead clock on his night stand. There was no way, I completely destroyed it. His mind spun for a brief moment as he tapped the face of the timepiece with his index finger.

He paused, listening to the eerie silent room as he watched shadows swaying upon his walls. The sound continued, however, he could now tell it was not coming from his dead clock. As he then listened more carefully to the darkness that surrounded him, the strange clock like ticking no longer sounded like the innocent ticking that had disturbed him earlier.

Thump  
Thump

His eyes fell on the closet doors across the room as he began to nervously pull on the bottom button on his PJs.

Thump  
Thump

"I guess… I should look." He voice cracked and fell to a whisper.  
After a few more minutes of nervous fidgeting he finally pulled himself to his feet, a cold shiver shot up from his toes as they contacted icy marble and settled into his spine as he slowly inched across the freezing floor toward the strange sound emanating from behind the closet doors. He stood in silence, eyeing the indent in the smooth surface that served as a handle. His mind racing, inwardly wondering if he should just leave and find solace in a different place than this, perhaps a friend could take him in for the night. But how humiliating would the incessant jokes be? They would spread like the flames of a certain fire elemental and soon all would laugh at the Nobody that fled his room due to a 'monster' in his closet.

His chilled lips tightened once again just before he sucked in his bottom lip and began to nervously chew on it, the imagined laughter still echoing in his burning ears.

A strangely quiet tap noise finally brought him back to his senses; his light blue eyes scanned the ground by his toes. A small button, the same light blue color as his eyes was lying before him, he then tugged at the bottom of his PJ shirt; poking a finger through the hole he had just made in them from where the button had once been securely attached.

A sigh of irritation escaped his lips once again as he eyed the closet door, "Just open it, Demyx, it's not like the boogie man is going to jump out at you…" he softly commanded himself to take action, a strange feeling flooded him as he reached out, this was all so familiar.

His hand trembled as he slowly examined the door handle with slender fingers, he was just about slide the door open when the strangely rhythmic ticking-thumping seemed to shift once again into a different but still very familiar sound.

Ba-thump

Ba-thump

Demyx froze; his eyes fixed on the handle to his closet, his fingers just barely brushing against the cold surface of the door. It seemed like an eternity before he made any sort of motion after that. He drew back his hand, slowly eyeing the door. "I know that sound…" he barely mouthed the words as his hand withdrew from the door and settled over his chest.

Demyx suddenly twitched, the feeling of free-falling suddenly overwhelmed him only to be stopped by his mattress and the feeling of warm covers surrounding him. His eyes shot open as he looked up at his clock on the night stand. It was alive and well, happily ticking away and telling him that it was now about 9am.

He was about to question the powers of the time device when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head locking eyes with a very familiar face that was hovering, no falling rather rapidly above him.

**End of Track 1: Mitternacht**

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_Strange Dreams, faint Memories, and Dark Nightmares seem to be haunting Demyx at night, keeping him from his much needed sleep.. but what is the cause of these horrors, and will this strange thing in his closet really compare to what is looming over head... er falling over head... fast... Poor Demyx..._

To be continued in Track 2: Siren


	2. Siren

**La Dee Daaa:** I figured I would be nice... and update the next part right away since I was so EEEEVIL and left it in such a cliffhanger for a begining. A quick note that I would like to make about the reviews... I promise I will answer... I didn't know I could reply!! I'm such a space cadet I just forget there's an option there... T.T forgive my dorkiness. But I'll keep up on it this time when ya'll leave me a review. Also, each chapter is titled after whatever song I listened to while working... I tried to keep with songs that would fit the mood of the chapter. Today we have 'Siren' by Theater of Tragedy. last Chapter was Mitternacht (German for 'midnight' ) by E. Nomine (the only song of theirs I've ever heard...)

And off we go!

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Track 2: Siren

**-last time-**

Ba-thump

Ba-thump

Demyx froze; his eyes fixed on the handle to his closet, his fingers just barely brushing against the cold surface of the door. It seemed like an eternity before he made any sort of motion after that. He drew back his hand, slowly eyeing the door. "I know that sound…" he barely mouthed the words as his hand withdrew from the door and settled over his chest.

Demyx suddenly twitched, the feeling of free falling suddenly overwhelmed him only to be stopped by his mattress and the feeling of warm covers surrounding him. His eyes shot open as he looked up at his clock on the night stand. It was alive and well, happily ticking away and telling him that it was now about 9am.

He was about to question the powers of the time device when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head locking eyes with a very familiar face that was hovering, no falling rather rapidly above him.

**-thus we begin-**

"Rox…. UUGH!" the name was knocked from him along with all the air in his lungs as the falling Nobody landed square in the middle of his stomach.

"Good Morning starshine! The earth says… helloooooooo!" the youngest blonde member of Organization XIII sang out after so 'gracefully' landing on his friend.

"R…r…Rox…as… ge…get off!" Demyx stuttered before he started shoving at the small Nobody, trying desperately to free himself and finally be able to breath.

"Bounce, Roxas, bounce!" a familiar voice called from the doorway, as the smaller Nobody obeyed the order and promptly bounced a couple times on the Musician's stomach.

"Gggaaaaaah… don't... I'm going to hurl…" Demyx fell limp, playing dead like an opossum.

"tsk tsk… Demyx, poor poor, Demyx… WHEN are you going to learn that when I say something, I mean business, hmm?" The voice called again from the doorway.

"Yeeeeeeah, I heard that the other week too, so I suggest you listen." Roxas tapped Demyx on the forehead a couple times, all the while grinning evilly.  
Demyx cracked open an eye, glancing at the door where the familiar voice had come from. A hooded Nobody was leaning against the door frame; one arm resting above his head while the other hand carefully and slowly ran gloved fingers through the long strand of Crimson hair that had worked it's way out from under his dark hood.

"But... what? What'd I doooo?" Demyx whined until the weight on his stomach shifted once again, abruptly forcing the air from his lungs.

"Shoooooooosh, no whining! You were supposed to be up nearly three hours ago where we were supposed to meet Axel outside his room in order to ready the plans to rain some DOOOOM upon more saps… I mean victims… I mean unsuspecting dupes…" Roxas chattered like a little monkey that had just found something shiny.

"Friends?" Axel chimed in.

"YEAH!! That…" Roxas hopped excitedly, eliciting another grunt of agony from his captive, "BUT NOOOOOO! SOMEBODY had to keep us waiting ALL morning!" The small nobody accentuated his words with a swift hand connecting with the Musician's forehead, almost the same sort of motion that one would make when knocking on a door.

Demyx blinked a couple times at the small Nobody, inwardly pondering the odd behavior he was now displaying, "Who are you and what did you do with Roxas?"

"I had some coffee… coffee's good… coffee, coffee, coffee…" Roxas paused mid-chant, bright blue eyes glossed over with unexpected longing, "I want more, I'm leaving." He suddenly sang out as the gears in his head did a complete turn around. He wasted no more time as he slipped off of his helpless captive and started skipping for the door.

"Good grief, Roxas, that's the last time I give you coffee! It's like somebody cast haste on your mouth." Axel snatched the smaller Nobody by the hood of his black coat pulling him back.

"But... but... I need coffee, I wants it… I needs it…" Roxas started breathing erratically, nearly panicking at the thought of no coffee.

"If you call it your precious I'm going to slap your face clean off of your head…" Axel growled as he recalled all the Gollum sayings that bounced around the castle after that last movie night.

The answering silence and wide-eyed deer look was enough to tell Axel that he could continue his 'mission' without further annoyance. He turned his head peering under his dark hood at Demyx. "You see what you've done? Look at this! He's like some sort of freakish Starbucks-tard spouting random movie lines… all because YOU didn't come when I told you too."

Axel sniffled as though he were about to cry at any moment as he pulled Roxas into a tight bear hug; gripping his chin between his thumb and index finger and turning his face so the youngest Nobody was now staring down Demyx. "I mean just look at that crazed look in his eye, and it's all YOUR fault!! Aren't you ashamed of what you've done to our dear, dear little buddy?" He added with a fake sob of grief, pointing at the glazed look of annoyance mixed with boredom that was now sneaking its way over the once overly energetic Nobody.

Demyx stared speechless at first, his mouth opening to say something only to be cut off by the small Nobody, "Unhand me before I shove Oblivion through your eye…" Roxas snarled, his eye twitching.

"Sheesh, I swear the two of you just have no loyalties!" Axel released his captive and shoved his hands into his pocket, flopping against the nearest wall. He reached up after a moment, his hand idly sneaking up to the edge of his hood as he started to lazily yank back the fabric hiding his face. He twitched suddenly, stopping short of the edge of the material and suddenly dropping his hand back to his side. The odd movement seemed to go unnoticed by his two friends for the time being.

"I don't know, guys, I've got a bad feeling about all this..." Demyx paused, snuggling deeper into his covers and pulling his light blue comforter up over his head, "I haven't been sleeping well, something's just not right around here anymore."

Axel and Roxas both stared at him blankly as he shifted around under the piles of blankets and continued to voice his worry, "Something BAD is going to happen, it's like some sort of sign... and what about last time? Weren't you two in enough trouble LAST time?" the covers shifted near the foot of the bed, pulling back just enough to reveal a worried light aquamarine eye, "I can't believe you forgot that, Roxas..."

Roxas straitened out of his slouching posture, staring wide-eyed at Demyx yet the musician could clearly see that the youngest nobody wasn't seeing him at all. The thoughts that were running through his mind were plainly written in his blue eyes, memories that suddenly flooded back and made his stomach lurch.

"I'm leaving..." Roxas suddenly blurted, the caffeine buzz completely gone and his sanity once again had control of his body.

"WHAT!? NO!!" Axel twitched; pushing away from the wall he was leaning against in an attempt to stop the retreating little Nobody. "Roxas wait! It's not like we're going to do anything wrong! Just check on things…"He started to reach out for his little friend, yank him back as usual, yet something pulled at his attention. His overwhelming irritation with the musician forced him to stop suddenly and whip back around and face the resident water elementalist, "DEMYX!! You little… Weasel!"

The lump under the covers was no longer there, yet Axel's scrupulous emerald eyes caught the movement of a bare foot as it tried to snake its way under the bed. With out warning he swooped down on the foot like a hawk diving for a tasty little mouse.

"DEMYX!! I'm going to kick your sorry little mullet headed butt for that! IT TOOK FIVE CUPS OF COFFEE TO MAKE HIM COME WITH ME!! FIVE!!" Axel snatched the retreating foot and gave it a good tug, eliciting a squeal of terror that sounded out from under the bed. "You little Buzz kill! COME OUT!"

"NOOO! You're gonna hurt me!" Demyx squealed once again as he scrambled, trying desperately to crawl back under to the dark protection of the small space under his bed, but all his struggles were proving too futile. Clearly Axel had a little more physical strength than the musician and the enraged nobody already had him half way out of his safe spot. In one last effort to free himself, Demyx swung his free foot around and connected with Axel's chin. Forcing the other Nobody to release his grip and stumble backwards until he landed square on his backside.

Axel sat dazed for a moment as Demyx curled back up in the shadows of his bed, still coiled and ready to strike like a little pit viper.

A gloved hand reached up, rubbing his now sore chin, "sheesh Demyx! You're such a little cheap shot fight... er…" Axel paused as the laughter echoing in the room came to his attention. It was a chilling sound, like a Chihuahua with asthma.

Roxas was nearly in stitches, his laughter coming short burst and nearly sounding like a small yappy dog, "It's STILL there!" he could barely breath as he dropped to his knees.

Axel blinked at him, confused at the odd sentence. Demyx too couldn't help but poke his head out and see what had brought on the fit.

"That's why you've been wearing your hood up all this week!" Roxas finally gasped, finishing his outburst from before. "You've STILL got it!"

Axel suddenly tensed, reaching up to find that his hood had fallen back during his scuffle with Demyx, "Aaaah!" he scrambled for the material and yanked the hood back over his head, tightening the strings until only his nose poked out, "SHUT UP, ROXAS!" the threat came out a little cracked and weaker than he would have liked, but still hoped he sounded foreboding enough to call the laughter off.

Demyx inched out more, glancing between the two in confusion, "What?"

"Didn't you notice?" Roxas scooted a little closer to the musician, leaning over and whispering, "For the last week, since we left him in your room... with Zexion… Remember? He's been wearing his hood up everywhere."

Demyx blinked, images coming back to the front of his mind; an oddly sensitive Axel snapping at people from under the shadow of his hood during breakfast, him ducking around corners when someone came close only to re-emerge, hood up, and quickly retreat back to the shadows of his room. "Oooooh yeeeeaaah. You mean…"

"He's still got that book spine shaped bruise from when Zexion clocked him one square in the middle of his face." Roxas chuckled at the superficial nature his friend was displaying by trying to hide his 'battle scars'.  
"THAT'S IT!! All friendship privileges have been revoked, and I'm leaving! You two can take a flying leap off the Alter of Naught for all I care…" Axel snarled as he scrambled to his feet and headed for the door, stopping only when he felt a rather strong tug on the 'tail' of his black cloak.

"Aw, come on, Axel, don't be such a baby…" Roxas sighed, still gripping the black leather of Axel's coat tightly.

"Baby?!" Axel spun around, coming face to face with not only Roxas but Demyx as well, both with a sickeningly evil smirk on their usually innocent faces. The taller Nobody was taken aback for a brief second but still continued, "You try getting your head nearly knocked off by the collective works of Charles Dickens sometime, then we can talk about who's being a baby." As he ranted, Axel yanked back his hood, revealing the somewhat faded, yet clearly visible after effects of a massive book spine being lodged into his face.

"Well it's good thing you're a nobody cause I think that blow would have killed any normal man…" Roxas chuckled, quickly joined by Demyx.

The aggravating sound of their mirth at his own expense elicited a growl of irritation from Axel once again before he turned and started for the door once more. The weight of his two friends trying to pull him back didn't seem to deter him in the least. "And you two giddy ladies just LEFT ME THERE!" he growled, and almost pained tone to his voice as he tried to get through the door.

"What about Mar Mar?" Demyx suddenly chirped, releasing his grip on Axel's coat. The sudden lack of restraint was just enough to let Axel stumble, nearly face planting into the bedroom door.

"What? What does he have to do with anything?" Axel turned, glancing over his shoulder.

"Well if you're that self conscious about your face, why not use some of Mar Mar's makeup or something?" Demyx smiled, pleased at his own genius.

"Marluxia wears makeup?" Roxas' nose wrinkled as he pondered that one.

"Wait… lemme get this strait…" Axel turned full around, tapping his forehead as though he was deep in thought. "You want me to sneak into Marluxia's room again… this being the man that nearly took my head off only a week ago with his mighty scythe of girly doom… and steal his make-up?"

Demyx smiled in answer, nodding innocently.

'WONK!'

There was clearly audible noise as the base of Axel's palm connected with Demyx's forehead.  
"OUCH! What?!" Demyx squealed pathetically, holding his forehead and cringing incase of another blow.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?" Axel yelled, leaning threateningly over the musician. "What in the name of kingdom hearts makes you think I… AXEL…. Would even THINK of wearing makeup, let alone MARLUXIA'S GIRLY CRAP!! DO I LOOK LIKE A WOMAN TO YOU?"

"I was just saying… he might have some kind of concealer or something… if you don't want to go there then what about Larxene? She'd help… She can be nice… sometimes..." Demyx sniffled, still rubbing his forehead and taking a defensive stance for the next smack that he instinctively knew would come after stating the words 'nice' and 'Larxene' within the same sentence.

Axel stared in disbelief for a moment and then turned to Roxas, "Did somebody hit him with something? I mean, really hard… like knocked a big ol' hole in his head… cause I think we need to go look for his brain, it must have fallen out."

"FINE! Don't take my advice, I'm going back to bed…" Demyx threw his hands up in defeat, muttering as he headed back to the warm security of his covers, "…just trying to help... but NOOOO…" he mumbled along the way.

"Actually…" Axel's voice halted Demyx just short of his bed, the curious tone that laced the word sent a strange chill down the musician's spine as he listened for the next words, knowing full well they weren't going to be good.

"You have a point there, Bambi, perhaps we SHOULD go and see about some makeup from Marly's room… and while we're at it…" Axel trailed off as he began to chuckle evilly.

Both Demyx and Roxas flinched; the dread began to work over their thoughts as they listened.

"Where is it Demyx?" Axel cooed chillingly.

"Where's what?" Demyx turned, eyeing the redhead suspiciously.

"You know what I mean! Don't play dumb, we left it here with you because no one would suspect YOU." Axel snapped.

Roxas twitched, "Wait… is that why Vexen and Lexeaus turned my room inside out the day after the 'incident'?"

Demyx smiled to himself, his little retribution had quickly become known as 'The Incident'. It had such a mysterious and foreboding sound to it, and he actually enjoyed the way the others would eye him suspiciously when he'd start to loose his cool since then.

"Of course, they suspect we took it. But they can't prove it, and I suppose they've forgotten by now, what with Xemnas being in the state he's in." Axel stated.  
"Yeah, well they may be side-tracked right now, but Vexen IS going to remember when he doesn't have to worry about that creature and the effects it's had on the Superior." Roxas reasoned back.

"Which is why we need to strike NOW! While they have other things on their minds! And while dear, dear Xemmy-poo is… occupied with other matters." A wicked smile streaked across Axel's face as he spoke.

Roxas stared at his friend for a moment, "A very familiar feeling is coming over me…"

"Pu-leeease, we're Nobody's… we don't have feelings…" Axel snorted.

"This whole thing, waking me up at the crack of dawn and telling Demyx to meet us, this is all part of your plan isn't it? We weren't going to go 'check' on Xemnas. You're just wanting to make sure he's still a vegetable so you can pull off whatever it is you have floating around in your sick little mind!" Roxas pointed an accusing finger at Axel. The all too innocent look he received back was answer enough.

Roxas buried his face in his palms, letting out a howl of irritation, "I can't believe you!"

"Oh, come on… have I ever steered you wrong? Hm? Has there ever been a time when it came back on us?" Axel chuckled.

"I almost had to wear a French maid's outfit and clean Namine's room!!" Roxas glared at his friend.

"ALMOST, being the key word there." Axel pointed out, "Besides you were more than happy to join in this morning."

"If you actually had the capability of non-selective memory, perhaps you'd recall my telling you to take a flying leap this morning before you promised me the coffee. And I was only playing with Demyx earlier... that and it was the caffeine talking..., I didn't think we were HONESTLY going to repeat that horror of an experience!" Roxas finally slowed his ranting, catching his breath.

"There's nothing to worry about! Trust me, I know best…" Axel chuckled then pointed a finger at Demyx, "You! The potion thingy… now!"

"I'm not touching it." Demyx turned, nose in the air.

The action was truly startling, usually Demyx was more than happy to be included in anything. Axel blinked, dumbfounded, "You're kidding right? COME ON!!" he quickly switched tactics as he tiptoed up behind the musician. Obviously the yelling/argue tactic wasn't going to work on a being such as Demyx. It just wouldn't get them anywhere; he was too 'sensitive' to be bullied. "You know you want to…" Axel poked him on the cheek.  
"I don't want anything to do with it! That thing has been giving me nightmares all week and I can do without it. It's like some sort of evil omen or something" Demyx folded his arms across his chest and turned his back to Axel once again.

"Nightmares? The potion?" Roxas pondered aloud.

"Yeah, nightmares!" Demyx pointed at the closet, "Every night it makes this incessant noise. It's creepy, like something out of some horror movie…"

"Like you've ever made it through ANY horror movies." Axel snickered.

"Yeah, the second you hear the creepy heart beat thing, you're gone out of the room like a scalded cat." Roxas chuckled, but the chuckling quickly died as he watched Demyx's face twist with anxiety. His mind instantly confirmed why Demyx was acting so odd; making him painfully aware that he had just struck the correct cord without knowing.

Axel however didn't notice the exchange of worried looks his two friends shared; his attention was now on retrieving the stolen 'weapon'. He stalked up on the closet as though he were trying to sneak up on some living creature, a giddy little chuckle escaping him as he opened the door.

"Sheesh you could have hidden it better, the whole hidden in the closet thing is so done." Axel sighed as he reached for the crimson flask sitting innocently upon the top shelf of Demyx's closet, "Anyone could have just opened this and seen it ri…" Axel paused when his gloved hand touched the flask, he could almost swear that for a split second there it felt warm and almost pulsated at his touch. "..R...right… away…"

"Axel?" the worried sound of his young friend's voice pulled Axel back to reality. Roxas stared at him for a moment before he continued, "what is it?"

"Nuthin'… I just shocked myself, static… er something." Axel muttered in response. He swallowed hard, a strange sort of sensation came over him as he pulled the flask down and turned it over in his hands. "Here… Roxas, you hang on to it." He hadn't noticed this that night when they stole it from the lab, but now something was making him wish he had never laid eyes on it. He wanted it away from his grasp as soon as possible.

Roxas blinked, inwardly growing more worried about the sudden mood swing that had taken over his friend. He motioned for Axel to toss it to him, all the while silently questioning him with a tilt of his head and a worried expression.

A moment later Roxas was holding the crimson flask that he and Axel had risked life, limb, and pride for; he turned it over in his hands. The crimson liquid sloshed within the crystal flask, yet nothing seemed strange to him at all. He glanced up at Demyx and then over at Axel. Demyx seemed anxious and uncertain, like a child that still seemed frightened after a bad night. But that was Demy for you; he was always overly emotional for a Nobody who wasn't supposed to posses such feelings. But it was Axel that made him worried, the strange depression that seemed to sweep over his friend was so unusual; especially in the way that it seemed to dissipate as quickly as it had jumped upon him.

The silence in the room was becoming suffocating. "Sheesh, what are you guys, a bunch of little girls? It's just a bottle of perfume and you're all acting like this is some kind of catalyst that will bring about Armageddon." Roxas chuckled; his only thought was to end the tension that seemed to be strangling everything, even if it was just a simple joke.

"Har har, but I'm not the one that was trying to cower under my bed earlier." Axel snorted, shooting a sideways glance in the direction of Demyx "Let's go already, I'm getting bored." He growled as he snatched Roxas by the collar and proceeded to drag him to the door.

Demyx stood in silence for a moment, a faint sigh escaping his lips, "Like sailors to the call of the Siren… This isn't good…"

"Hey!" Demyx squealed as he followed them, "I was only hiding under by bed because you…" he paused in the hallway outside of his room, watching as Roxas tried to free himself from Axel's grip. Something had suddenly struck Demyx, "DID YOU CALL ME BAMBI!?"

**Track 2 End: Siren**

And so the three set off to undoubtedly bring about more doom upon the inhabitants of the castle. But what could this strange Elixir possibly be? Why does such a small insignificant flask have such an awkward effect on one who merely touches it? And good gravy, what in the name of Kingdom Hearts will happen if someone actually DRINKS any?! Oh poor Marly…I fear for you and the safety of your roses…

to be continued in Track 3: Yellow Roses


	3. Yellow Roses

Author's Notes: Today's Track is "Yellow Roses" by Dolly Parton... what? YEAH!! you read that right... I LOVE her... ever since I was five.. I would listen to her and I kid you not every time I do floral arrangements I SING that song to the flowers... I have way too much in common with Marly...

Great big hugs and thank yous and happy warm fuzzies go to you Katherine-The-Crowned, Merklin, The avenging songstress, and Iaveina for the the reviews! Thank you so much!! and I'm really sorry it took me so long to post the next chapters.

With that said, on with the show... er... story...

Track 3: Yellow Roses

Brilliant beams of artificial sunlight filtered warm rays through the tall crystalline patchwork of glass the window of a somewhat small room filled with foliage and flowers. It was the only room in the castle, no, the only room in this world of darkness that seemed to glow with the brilliance of a normal spring day. The much needed warm sunlight gently reached out to all the plants while also illuminating the hunched over figure of a man kneeling before a small yellow rose bush.

His light cherry colored hair that usually fell free in layers was now pulled back into a loose tie at the base of his neck, freeing him from being hindered by flyaway strands while he worked intently on his small garden. A usual routine that never changed as long as he had been 'alive'; wake up to what should normally be early dawn, shower, then greet his loved ones.

Yet something this day had stopped him from his habitual tending and watering the small lives that depended on him, one of his 'children' needed special attention today.

He sat on his heels in front of the small rose bush, inspecting it while a soft melody escaped his lips and echoed through out the room. His slender fingers gently caressed a single yellow rose bud that seemed to have developed a slightly limp appearance, the beginnings of a withered state was overtaking the small plant. Yet something strange began to happen as he held it gently and sang quietly, life seemed to spring back into the little rose bush. It's leaves perked and it's little wilting yellow rose buds began to brighten once again, opening in response to his care and loving words.

"…my bright yellow rose buds, oh I still love you so…" the tune suddenly stopped as the man's attention was ripped from the frail flowers toward the door that lead back into his chambers.

He gave the little rose one last tender touch and then stood up, grabbing the small bottle of water near his foot with one hand while dusting off the seat of his black leather pants with the other. The once tender smile that played upon his lips was completely erased, replaced now with irritation and suspicion. He set his hand on the door, but instead of turning the latch handle he put an alert ear to the white entry. Muffled voices echoed behind the door, all he knew well but only one sent a wave of irritation up his spine until it settled in his tensing shoulders.

"Obviously you must have a death wish, because that's the only possible reason I could come up with for the likes of you daring to enter my room after that last time." The door suddenly swung open, startling the three that had invaded his sacred space.

"MAR MAR!!" Demyx squealed happily completely unfazed by the danger that had been dripping from the assassin's words, "You ARE here! We need your help, I mean I should say Axel needs your help and since it's something only you can do… er actually Larxy could too but Axel said he'd kick my butt if I brought Larxy anywhere near him, so I figured maybe you could…" the ramble from the musician was suddenly cut off as the Graceful Assassin's hand shot up, clamping down his index finger and thumb on Demyx's lips, pinching them shut.  
"I don't need anything from him either, ya mook!!" Axel growled loudly, a pained expression twisting his face into a grimace. The mere thought of needing anything from that man sent a wave of nausea strait to his stomach.

"Shut your trap, fool, even your voice annoys me." Marluxia spat at Axel before turning his attentions back upon Demyx, "Now, Demy, take a breath and calmly tell me what on earth would make you think I would help the likes of him?"

Demyx blinked owlishly as Marluxia released his pinching grip on his lips, an almost bewildered disbelief shining in his aquamarine eyes, "Because, we're all friends… I mean we're all in the same organization so it's kinda like family, so… we're friends... cause we're family…" His quiet hesitant words were silenced by hysterical laughter from all three of his companions.

"You're kidding right? FRIENDS?!" Marluxia nearly choked from laughing so hard, "With HIM? When a purple monkey flies out my butt…"

Roxas chuckled, only to get elbowed by Axel right in the ribs. Axel stepped back, "Let's go, I'd rather die than get his help with anything!"

Marluxia arched an eyebrow, a wicked little grin snuck its way across his lips, "Ah, a fate worse than death am I? Nice, so how may I bring about your torment, I can't just leave a 'friend' in need!"

"Forgeeee…" Axel was in mid snarl, only to be cut off by Demyx.

"He needs make up." Demyx stated flatly.

"He wha?" Marluxia turned back around, his bottle of water slipping from his weak grasp, hitting the ground with a slosh, then rolling across the floor toward Roxas.

Demyx nodded, smiling innocently while Axel choked.

"Make up, as in cosmetics? Hm, while I think hiding that hideous face is a wonderful idea and a kind show of courtesy to your fellow members of he Organization…" Marluxia smiled, nodding at Axel who's cheeks were now beginning to turn as red as his hair, "However, Demyx, what exactly makes you think I would have such a thing in my room?"

Demyx shook his head nervously while shrugging his shoulders, "Um… I donno.. um… maybe… 'cause... you have such… um perfect… color… and shiny…" he hesitated even more on the last word, "…lips?"

Marluxia slowly blinked, staring down Demyx until the tension was nearly unbearable for the Musician, "As utterly flattering as that was, I assure you that I do NOT wear make up." his words nearly dripped with the rage he was trying to hide from the younger Nobody.  
Another chuckle echoed from the direction of Roxas causing Marluxia to spin back around towards the other two unwelcome guests, "You… Shouldn't you be off cleaning something?" he snarled at Roxas.

"I think not. The Superior said nothing and until he does, I will continue to do just that... Nothing." Roxas snorted folding his arms across his chest in defiance.

"Ah, aren't you cute!" Marluxia leaned forward pinching Roxas' cheek; "You're just milking Xemnas' misfortune for all it's worth. No wonder you two are such good friends." He shot a glare at Axel who was setting the fallen water bottle on the book case along the wall, "Your mini me is coming along nicely."

"Why thank you, I do my best to better our world." Axel sneered, as he thumbed through a few of the books in the case.

"Mar Mar please, can't you do something?" Demyx snatched hold of Marluxia's sleeve, tugging slightly on the cuff.

"What would you have me do? I can think of numerous things I would like to do to the man, starting with decapitation and working my way down the list of horrible pains worse than death. Oh, I would like to…" Marluxia paused mid rant, trying to avoid looking directly at the musician. "Don't give me that look, I hate that look, it's annoying."

"He looks like that cat from that CG cartoon about that ugly green thing." Roxas chuckled.

Demyx continued to stare pleadingly at Marluxia, his eyes looking abnormally large and misty, adding to that kicked puppy look he was deploying. He kicked it up a notch by turning his feet inward until he was standing somewhat pigeon toed while tugging lightly on Marluxia's sleeve. He became the perfect image of sappy adorableness despite the rocker's black tank top and leather he was sporting. He still was an image that could not be told 'no'… ever.

"No!" Marluxia barked, unhindered. "I want you all out of here, now!" He snatched his sleeve away from the Musician and nervously fumbled towards his bookcase.

"Wow, Marly, you keep that kind of talk up and we're starting to feel a little unwelcome! Perhaps we should go and leave you to you're singing." Axel snickered from behind one of Marluxia's gardening books he had pulled from the shelf.

"Yes, please do so." Marluxia snorted, snatching back the book Axel was currently flipping through. "You're ruining an otherwise perfectly good morning for... Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh please, like we couldn't hear you in there. You know talking to them makes you seem like a nutter, but singing to them? That just makes you look like a raving lunatic." Axel tapped the side of his head with his index finger, accentuating the insult.

"This coming from the man looking for women's cosmetics." Marluxia smirked, as he snatched the water bottle off the wooden surface of the case with one hand while firmly pushing Axel back away with the other. "And don't touch my stuff, also ask before you set something on my book case, it ruins the cherry wood."

"Blah blah blah, whatever." Axel rolled his eyes.

"But Mar Mar... Please!" Demyx's voice cracked interrupting the argument.

"Oh, don't give me that hang dog look, Nocturne." Marluxia unconsciously fiddled with the bottle until the cap came off, "I don't give a rat's behind about any of Pyro's misfortunes so for the last time you can just take him else where." he added, pointing the bottle at the Musician, a small amount of water sloshed out the top.

Demyx's gaze followed the water that had spilled, staring blankly at the floor where it had splashed. "Contaminated..." he barely whispered before aquamarine eyes suddenly shot back up to Marluxia's face just as he took a drink and set the bottle down on his night stand. He was too late to warn him.

"Well, well, well… what's this? You DO have make up in here!" Axel cackled from the corner of the room as he rummaged through Marluxia's dresser drawers near the bathroom door.

"WHAT THE…. Get OUT of my dresser!" Marluxia growled.

"Demyx was right! You do have such shiny lips thanks to…" Axel turned the tube of lipstick over, "Cherry Petal Passion Pink… Wow… that's… Wow… I have no words for that you sick, sick little man."

"IT'S NOT MINE!! LARXENE LEFT IT!!" Marluxia howled, clenching his fists by his side turning his knuckles white from the amount of pressure.

"Mar Mar?" Demyx quietly called, still worried about the water and the strange feeling he was getting from Marluxia now, however the worried words went unheard.

"LEAVE! I can't stand laying eyes on you any longer!" Marluxia snarled, his voice cracked as an almost startled expression now mixed with the pure anger lighting up his blue eyes. Such rage, uncontrollable rage and embarrassment over being inspected and accused of such trivial things; it almost felt as though something inside him had caught fire now and he wasn't sure how long he could take this intense and nearly frightening emotion.

'Emotion?' Marluxia felt himself tremble as the word echoed in his mind.

"Shoot Marluxia, don't have a conniption." Roxas chuckled nervously before darting his gaze over at Axel. That rage seemed familiar to the smallest nobody, too much like the time they were caught in the hallway and Marluxia nearly took Axel's head off, literally. But this time it was such a trivial matter, why would that anger be so intense now?

"Something wrong?" Axel smiled, almost sadistically.

"Of course something's wrong, YOU'RE STILL HERE! Digging around in my business and accusing me of…" Marluxia's breathing hitched; started to become shallow and erratic as he glared daggers at Axel. "I... I so h… hate y..you… ooooooh shiny…" In one fluid movement Marluxia slid to the ground, out like a light.

"MAR MAR!!" Demyx squealed; dancing from one foot to the other as he darted his gaze from Axel down to Marluxia sprawled across the floor, "YOU KILLED HIM!!"

Axel and Roxas both stared wide-eyed at the fallen Nobody, neither of them making a move until Demyx squealed again, "WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"I didn't do anything! Roxas put it in his water!" Axel pointed at the short Nobody that was now standing next to him.

"HEY! You TOLD me to!" Roxas turned and slugged Axel in the shoulder.

"Mar Mar? Mar Mar, wake up…" Demyx sunk to his knees next to Marluxia, rolling him over and inspecting for any signs of life, "Mar Mar! What do I do!? Roxas?" Demyx looked up at the other two, pleading for some kind of help. "CPR!?"

A loud snort followed by hysterical laughter filled the room, Axel doubled over still laughing but seemingly in pain from it.

"Demyx, you need a heart for that to work…" Roxas sighed as he rubbed his eyes with one hand, fighting back the headache that was threatening to take over.

"THE KISS OF LIIIIIFE!" Axel howled, "That'll bring him back… lemme get a camera…" he turned looking around for anything with film.

"The what?" Demyx blinked owlishly, utterly confused.

"Mouth to mouth resuscitation, Demyx…" Roxas groaned, "Axel this isn't funny, what if…"

"But who's going to do it?" Demyx fidgeted, shifting his gaze between Marluxia's lips and Axel's smirking face.

"Why you of course! I don't want to risk catching his girly cooties..." Axel snorted.

"Shut up, Axel, you're just making this worse." Roxas growled as he joined Demyx on the floor. "What if we did do something to hurt him? We're not even sure what that elixir can do… Vexen DID say it was a sort of weapon." He shot one more glare over his shoulder at his best friend back before turning his attentions to the issue at hand.

Neither of the two Nobodies gathered around the fallen comrade noticed the strange flinch between Axel's shoulders, the brief pause before he continued to rummage through Marluxia's drawers for a camera.

"Is he ok?" Demyx whined.

"He's still breathing, I think he just passed out." Roxas continued as he held his hand just above Marluxia's lips, confirming that he was in fact still breathing.

"What… happened…?" Marluxia muttered as he finally stirred; his words slurred as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

Demyx's worried expression greeted him, "We think you passed out Mar Mar… you ok?"

Axel's face was next to come into focus as he leaned over the two Nobody's gathered around, "Like a little girl… BAM!"

"If I could move I would kill you." Marluxia growled; his shoulder twitched as though he was trying to sit up but the rest of his body wouldn't function.

"Well in that case we better get going, come on Ladies!" Axel grinned as he snatched his two friends by the scruff of their clothes and dragged them back a couple steps towards the door. Marluxia's head thunked to the ground when he slipped from the weak hold Demyx had on him.

Demyx tore away from the grip on his black tank-top scrambling back towards Marluxia who was trying to stand up with still weakened knees that threatened t buckle beneath him. The not so Graceful Assassin trembled, stumbling slightly only to be caught and steadied by the concerned Musician.

"Come on, Demyx, or we're leaving you." Axel growled from the doorway.

"But we can't leave him alone..." Demyx glanced over his shoulder, pleadingly.

"And I'm not dragging him around with me all day. He might do something freakish like spout poetry or become one with his feminine side for all we know." Axel stated.

"But YOU did this, you can just leave him!" Demyx argued back.

"Obviously I'm gonna have to teach you the rules of pranks, spaz-monkey." Axel growled as he started toward Demyx, only to be halted by Roxas snatching his sleeve.  
"Axel…" Roxas whispered, only to be cut off suddenly.

"Fine, whatever, stay here and baby him. We're going to go have a little chat with someone... about a certain book." Axel's Cheshire grin nearly seemed to stretch from one ear to the other.

"What!? AXEL, WAIT!" it was too late, Demyx's call fell upon an already empty doorframe. "Zexy's not gonna like that..."

"Demyx, you can let go of me, I'm fine." Marluxia shrugged off the musician's light touch upon his shoulder before he slumped down on the bed.

"Mar Mar? Are you sure you're ok? What..." Demyx paused; he knew perfectly well what had happened. Axel and Roxas slipped him that horrid Elixir, but he still couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Marluxia stared strait ahead, intently watching nothing beyond the wall of his bedroom, "I think I was… angry."

"Well that's kinda the reaction Axel gets out of people…" Demyx sighed.

"No, I mean, I felt angry." Marluxia let his gaze shift to Demyx's face.

Demyx shook his head slowly, "Yeah, that's…"

"I… FELT…" Marluxia caught Demyx's gaze, "I think… I'm just a little light headed. I'm ok." His gaze lowered, staring at the space of floor between his feet.

Demyx studied Marluxia's expression for a moment, the confusion and was that even a hint of fear? It was reminding him of that nightmare, the faint 'feelings' that lingered when he would wake up to in a cold sweat. Ever since that bottle came into his life and invaded his closet, they had started then and hadn't let up for nearly a week.

"I want to ask Zexy about this, Mar Mar… Zexy knows a lot. He was one of the six so maybe he knows what this is and if it's dangerous." Demyx nervously ran his fingers through the long strands blonde of hair behind his neck.

"You know something don't you?" Marluxia studied Demyx's face again, searching for unspoken answers.

"N..no… NO! Why would I? I don't know anything…" Demyx fidgeted.

"Liar…" Marluxia didn't seem angry, more like amused judging from the odd smirk that was tugging at the corner of his mouth, "You're a horrible liar, it's written all over your face." His voice lowered slightly, more like talking to himself now, "I never noticed that before… It's like you're hiding something."  
"I'm nooooot!" Demyx squealed, not entirely sure what Marluxia was getting at.

IOIOIOIOIOI

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle, a certain Nobody finally stirred from a long and painful sleep. Dark lashes fluttered for a moment allowing brief glimpses at the golden colored eyes that had been hidden for some time. A groan broke the silence as the heavy eyelids finally clamped tightly shut, blocking out the brightly illuminated white room.

"W…What… Kingdom Hearts… What happened…" One eye finally opened to squint at the two figures lining the bedside, "Vexen?"

End Track 3: Yellow Roses

* * *

_Strange things are already starting to happen, without much help from Axel's mischief. Can Zexion help shed some light on this Elixir and Marluxia's fate? Or will he too fall victim to yet another prank before Demyx can reach him? And what has happened to Xemnas, will he be able to stop this new disturbance in the force? (LOL sorry… Roooooxas… I am your Faaaather… ok…. Shutting up now) eh, FIND OUT in the next Track. "Frozen"_


	4. Frozen

**Author's Notes:** Woooooot! Now my writing is better because I have a very wonderful beta reader from DA named Darkbladezz. He's the greatest and I'm so thankful to have him helping me with this. It seems no matter how many times I look a story over there's always SOMETHING that slips by me! Now I don't have have to worry

This track is "Frozen" by Madonna, not really sure how it all ties in other than I just like the song and it fits the mood here in the begining a bit. **

* * *

**

Track 4: Frozen

"_Please, tell me that this… this… thing… is NOT poisonous and about to kill me…" Xemnas painfully growled through clenched teeth._

"Of course it's not going to kill you, heh heh." Vexen chuckled nervously before turning and whispering to Zexion, "It's going to put him into a temporary death like coma and then he'll wake up with a horrendous hangover and memory loss and proceed to vomit his insides out for the next week."

It was a strange sort of dream that simply faded into burning... stinging…white…

It felt like nothingness; the body suspended in time and space. No feeling against the skin or sensations that would tell a human being, even a Nobody for that matter, that they were still among the living.

Consciousness seemed to still be there, self-awareness in an endless field of blank white. He wondered if he WAS still alive, inwardly…outwardly?

Had he just voiced this concern to the white void? He was so frozen, not in the sense of being chilled, just a confused frozen nothingness. He couldn't even tell if he had spoken aloud or merely thought it.

Unnerving yet peaceful, he remained frozen until a searing brightness pierced strait through his closed eyelids. The pain of the white light sent violent throbbing shocks strait into his brain, the feeling was unbearable. Between the rhythms of pounding within his skull he found himself pondering the sensations, these feelings of pain and suffering racking his body and tearing at his consciousness.

"I thought Nobodies couldn't feel…" His lips moved, he was sure of it this time, he had said something to the nothingness. His own voice seemed to pound into his skull loudly.

A new voice then ripped through the white, tearing into his already aching mind. "Very true, Sir, Nobodies do not feel emotion. However we do feel the pain of being wounded in some way. Call it a phantom sensation of when we were once living beings with hearts."

Dark lashes fluttered open for a moment allowing a brief glimpse at the golden colored eyes that had been hidden for some time. A groan broke the following silence as the heavy eyelids finally clamped tightly shut once more, giving up on 'seeing' the source of the new voice and blocking out the brightly illuminated white room with the source of the searing light above.

"W…What…Kingdom Hearts…What happened?" After a moment, one eye finally opened to squint at two figures lining his bedside, "Vexen?" Yes, that was the voice he had heard.

"Sir…I see you are finally beginning to recover; it's good to…"  
"SHUT. UP." Xemnas snarled, cutting off Vexen's words. Gold colored eyes rolled upwards before their eyelids clamped shut tightly once again. One of his weak hands fumbled under the covers of the bed he was lying in until he freed it. He rubbed his forehead; he wished he could simply wipe the pain away with his palm, but then quickly realized that he couldn't.

Vexen flinched, glancing at the muscular man standing next to him. Lexaeus returned the questioning stare.

"Those would be the symptoms that resemble a very acute hangover: intense light sensitivity, massive headaches, sound sensitivity as well as…" Vexen was whispering, barely audible to his hulking companion.

'VEXEN! DO YOU HAVE TO YELL!?" Xemnas barked between his fingers, "My head is KILLING me…WHAT HAPPENED?" the once deep and firm voice of the superior cracked weakly.

"Um…" Vexen fidgeted.

"Well? Speak up man, I can't hear you." Xemnas finally cracked open an eye to glare weakly at the two Nobodies once more.

"Sir, I didn't think you would recall…You were…um…" Vexen stuttered, not quite sure how to go about retelling that story, especially since everyone had taken a sort of vow of silence on the incident.

"When I find out what happened I will personally have the pleasure of tearing whoever was responsible for doing this to me into little tiny pieces…" Xemnas growled as he tried to sit up, "then I'll feed their innards to my Heartless experiments…"

"You fell down the stairs at the Alter of Naught…" Vexen quipped.

Xemnas stared at him, a piercing yet pained glare that seemed to reach strait into his soul and strangle the scientist where he stood. "I…What?"

"You fell. We think you must have tripped on..." He paused, recalling the honey bear in his mind's eye, "on...something...and you must have knocked yourself really hard on the head...resulting in a bit of memory loss." Vexen folded his hands in front of him, trying not to look nervous from his half lie.

"Well that explains my leg feeling jammed and this excruciating pain in my back, but why does my butt hurt?" Xemnas quirked an eyebrow at the scientist standing near his bedside.

"You landed on an Assassin." Vexen chirped again, still not ready to tell his Superior it was HIS OWN experiment that had lodged its fangs into his backside.

"Real spiky." Lexaeus added.  
Xemnas continued to stare at them, "Yeeeeah….So I fell down the stairs and was used as a pincushion by an Assassin…Somehow I doubt that is the ENTIRE truth…"

"Oh, Xemnas, you really shouldn't think about that right now! You need rest, please calm down. We'll go get you some nice chicken soup and some Excedrin and you'll be as good as new…" Vexen tried to sound as chipper as he could while slowly backing away toward the doorway.

"Chicken soup, what are you my mother? Aside from a minor headache, I am perfectly fine, and I would like to know exactly how long I've been out and what in heaven's name has been happening around here while I have been absent." Xemnas flung the covers back trying to stand, his knees shaking so forcefully he fell back to the mattress once again.

How Xemnas hated revealing his weakness.

"Sir, I don't think you should try to get up, you're really weak right now, and I think that other symptoms will..." Vexen started, forgetting the details of the little lie about the Assassin, and instead began explaining those of the poisons of a viscous bite. His only thoughts were on trying to gently coerce their patient into rest.

"What is this bucket here for?" An eyebrow quirked above a hazy golden eye as Xemnas started to turn; the small head movement sent a wave of nausea through him in an instant.

The door to the infirmary slammed shut, Lexaeus was leaning against it and cringing at the retching sounds coming from the other side of the door. Vexen had sprinted a few feet away and was now doing the 'I'm so grossed out' dance.

"Uuugh, ew, ew, ew...I am NOT going back in there." Vexen squeaked under his hands as he tried to cover his face and block out the mental images.

"But you're the only doctor..." Lexaeus stated.

"I am a SCIENTIST! Not a doctor..." The Chilly Academic paused in his circular pacing, running a hand through his pale blonde hair, "I mean, sure I understand the way the Nobody's system functions but I am not some NURSE that's going to wipe everyone's snotty nose...sheesh. I have more important matters at hand!" Vexen spun round glaring at his large companion, "and don't you dare throw the fact that it's the Superior in there back in my face. I. Do. NOT. Care!"

Lexaeus simply looked at him, never saying a word.

"Don't give me that look! You're giving me that look! It's not working, I have no feelings so your ploy to get me to feel bad about the way I'm acting towards a fellow Nobody in need is not going to work. I am not going to be forced to babysit ANYONE!! I do not babysit…Not even the superior." Vexen folded his arms across his chest, turning away from the blank stare being shot at him.  
...Silence...

"Fine...Maybe I can at least ask Zexion if he knows of some sort of cure or something in one of his books. Perhaps he has something that isn't in my medical science texts." Vexen finally sighed.

The faintest little flicker of a smile pulled at Lexaeus' lips before it faded all together. He never had to say a word, and continued in silence as he followed the small scientist down the hallway.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

"Stop fussing over me like I'm a weak little child, Demyx, I told you I'm fine." Marluxia weakly snarled and tried to shrug away from Demyx's touch.

"But you almost walked into the wall…" Demyx whined, refusing to let go of Marluxia's shoulder.

"I did not, fool, now let go!" The Graceful Assassin yanked his shoulder away, taking a step and slamming face first into the wall. He stumbled back, holding his nose, "How…what? When did that get there?"

"It just jumped out in front of you, out of nowhere." Demyx sighed.

Marluxia straitened, glancing over his shoulder to glare at the musician, "Funny, very funny. You're picking up some of Axel's more charming traits of sarcasm."

"I'm sorry, Mar Mar, but you asked for it that time." Demyx lowered his head, not so much to hide embarrassment but the satisfied little smirk that was threatening to run across his face.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Marluxia puzzled aloud.

"What?" Demyx was honestly confused by the sudden question.

"Mar Mar…Why do you call me that?" The Not-So-Graceful Assassin reasserted.

"Because, I dunno, I've always called you Mar Mar. You never seemed to mind before." Demyx answered with a shrug.

"Well it's not that I mind it, I just...But how do you get Mar Mar from…" Marluxia's question was suddenly interrupted by a shrill growl further up the hallway.

"Mars Bars! I wanna talk to you, Spaz Monkey!" A feminine voice called from ahead, accompanied by the sounds of stomping stiletto heels cracking against white marble.

Marluxia twitched nervously, the sound so horrifying, yet the image; the image was like nothing he could recall. He gazed in wonder, suddenly caught by what could only be described as an angel that had descended from Heaven. Her unzipped black cloak billowing out behind her because of her fast pace, her short blonde hair slicked back with two loose strands. She was like a beautiful dark butterfly, floating ever closer to him.

"HELLO? NIMROD?" Larxene was now standing two feet from his nose, glaring daggers.

"Eh?" Marluxia blinked, trying to keep his thoughts clear, trying not to see the irritation induced rosy tint to her cheeks or the soft pale pink of her lips drawn tightly across snarling white teeth. However, he couldn't help but notice how her green eyes seemed to sparkle with so much emotion even as she yelled.

"Larxy, please! Mar Mar isn't feeling well…" Demyx stated, trying to stop her from attacking the already dazed Nobody.

"What? I don't care, he's got something of mine and I want it back." Larxene snapped at the musician.

"And you have something of mine I believe." Marluxia smiled, taking a rather strikingly charming pose like nothing he'd ever deployed before. Especially on Larxene, his 'dear friend' that he felt he had never truly met until this very moment.

"I wha?" Larxene started to ask, only to find the words caught in her throat as Marluxia snatched her hand, the movement so sudden yet so gentle. He clutched her hand between his palms, eyeing the delicate gloved fingers as though they were a perfect work of art.

"Yes, I believe you stole my heart…" if he could have sparkled he would have, his blue eyes certainly were now.

Demyx leaned back, aquamarine eyes wide, "Whoa…"

Larxene stared at him, her eyes widened in shock. All too suddenly she snorted then laughed so hard she nearly started choking. She pulled her hand from Marluxia and clutched her stomach while she gasped and guffawed. After a few moments she finally managed to rein it into muted gasps and wheezing, catching her breath and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Oh that was good. How long were you working on that one?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by that. I was being perfectly honest." Marluxia almost seemed wounded by the reaction he had received.

Larxene chuckled, patting him on he shoulder, "Right, right, you can stop now. That was a good one, Hun."

"Um, Larxene, we were just going to see Zexion, and I think it would be better if we got going as soon as possible." Demyx was still staring at Marluxia in bewilderment; a strange fluttering in his gut telling him the sooner they got answers the better.

"Zexion?" Larxene eyed Demyx suspiciously, "Well whatever, I won't stop you. I just wanted my lipstick back; I think I left it in your room…"

"Axel has it." Demyx stated, pushing Marluxia forward to get him moving again.

"WHAT?!" Larxene bellowed, "WHY?!"

Demyx and Marluxia both flinched, "I suggested he use make up to cover up the bruise he has on his face from when Zexion pummeled him with a book." Demyx finally answered.

"So he took my LIPSTICK!? Where is he? I'll kill him." Larxene fumed, looking around as though Axel would just appear by her willpower alone.

"Your eyes turn a very lovely shade of dark green when you're angry." Marluxia sighed; tilting his head slightly as he admired the beauty he had never taken the time to notice before.

Larxene narrowed her eyes, and eyebrow rose questioningly.

"He said he was going to see Zexion too." Demyx answered before she could make any sort of comment about Marluxia's state of mind.

"Well let's go then, I have a mission to get to and I want to look my best. Besides, I think a little bloodshed will put me in a good mood for this." Larxene flexed her fingers, cracking her knuckles as she turned and stomped off.

"She's so beautiful." Marluxia sighed in awe as he stumbled after her like a love struck puppy.

"Mar Mar…" Demyx whispered. He wanted to say the Graceful Assassin was sounding really warped, but stating the obvious really wasn't going to help the issue at hand. The only thing he could think of was getting Zexion to take a look at the situation and tell him what he should do next; he only hoped he could get there before Axel and Roxas did anything to Zexy. Zexion was smart, he was their only chance; Demyx just HAD to save him…to save all the others.

End Track 4: Frozen

* * *

_It seems all halls point to Zexion, perhaps there is yet another storm rising when all these elements fall into place. Will there be bloody war, or will this be like a sweet fairy tale book sitting on Zexion's shelf? Only the next Track knows... "Love Stoned"_


	5. Love Stoned

**Blah blah blah from me:** today's track is... Love Stoned... by... Justin Timberlake... I can't believe I just admitted to listening to him.. I... me... the AFI, Sarah Brightman, Within Temptation loving me... just admitted that... T.T ( love both the original and the DJ Teisto version of the song)

... yeah... oh well.

Thank you again to Darkblade for being such a wonderful Beta Reader! and thank you SO MUCH to all who have reviewed and will review, hugs!

In this chapter I have written something that I never have written before... something that I find truly difficult to write. I was so scared to post this but thanks to Darkblade and everyone at DA I went ahead and posted it there and here.

* * *

**Track 5: Love Stoned**

The room was eerily quiet and still, the only visible movement came from the gently shifting white curtains each time the morning breeze outside picked up slightly and inched its way through the open slat in the window. This gave the room a comfortable cool feeling, accompanied by the refreshing scent of morning.

Even though darkness reigned the World that Never Was, there still seemed to be a strange sort of shift in the temperature that normally shouldn't be possible in a sunless world. The only conclusion could be that Kingdom Hearts acted as both sun and moon, seasonal warmth during 'daylight' hours and the chill of nighttime when the shadows grew powerful and swallowed all. It never got hot, just comfortable warmth; it never got cold, just comfortably brisk. Often times a Nobody would be perfectly content to crack open a window, and from time to time would leave it that way long into the night.

Zexion was no exception to this little observation. He often left his window open, letting the fresh air in to clean out the scent of dust and old books. Even though he rather liked that scent from ancient books, it could get stuffy after a while. So he would often open the window, dust the various shelves and bookcases that lined his room, then he'd stumble across some book he forgot he had. All would be forgotten once he found that lost treasure and he would curl up in his overstuffed chair near the window where he would find himself roaming once more in another world he could hold in his hands.

It was no different this day, books of all sizes were lying in neat piles across the room, while the shelves sat freshly dusted and waiting to be restocked. Yet all waited in forgotten silence, their master snuggled deep in the chair unaware of the state of semi-disarray around him. The book he had been reading slipped further out of his weak grasp and settled on his lap. A lazy feeling had overtaken him and he was now dozing peacefully with the light breeze teasing his silver blue hair.

Something shifted in the atmosphere, the once peaceful scene altered slightly as an eerie sensation washed over the Cloaked Schemer. It penetrated his void dreams and pulled him mercilessly back to consciousness. Dark lashes fluttered for a moment, as dark blue eyes shifted attention on his bedroom door.

It was there, lurking just outside the entry, a familiar scent that he had come to recognize from afar. It usually meant trouble, and he wasn't about to ignore it again. He had learned his lesson well after he'd awakened not too long ago to find hideous things scrawled across his forehead.

He slipped quietly out of his chair and carefully began to creep up on the door, very much like a cat stalking after a mouse. He raised a gloved hand, fingers spreading as though he was reaching to grab something from a shelf; in a matter of moments a rather hefty book flew from a nearby table and settled into his firm grasp. The Cloaked Schemer was now armed and dangerous, his massive Lexicon clutched tightly in his hand ready to be used to bludgeon someone.

Zexion listened at the doorway; head bowed slightly letting his silver blue locks of hair fall further across his face, casting shadows that gave him an even more ominous look. Two intruders, two stupid souls ready to be beaten down if they dared enter his domain without consent. But he would wait; he wanted to see what possessed them to dare come near him so soon after the last time.

The other side of the entry was quiet; the two nobodies that had stepped up to the door now stared at it for the longest time, as though they weren't even sure why they had come there. At least that was Roxas' thoughts on the subject. His mind seemed to be drawing a blank as to why in the name of Kingdom Hearts his red headed best friend would DARE to come within a ten foot radius of the book flinging nobody that had marred his face just a week earlier.

Roxas' thoughts cut off when he heard a strange sort of sloshing noise coming from Axel, who was standing directly to his right. It almost sounded like a soda being shaken for an attack, something he knew all too well. Roxas leaned back, peering behind Axel's back to see that he was shaking the elixir furiously with his right hand, his index finger holding something long inside the opening like a sort of makeshift cork.

Roxas straitened back staring up at Axel and raising a curious eyebrow. Axel must have felt the stare because soon his emerald eyes flicked to the side and captured his little friend's. A wicked smirk twisted across his lips as he pulled the 'cork' from the elixir's bottle, replacing it with the original flask stopper. It wasn't until Axel slipped the elixir into his coat pocket and retrieved the lipstick cover that Roxas connected what Axel had been doing.

"What in the world?" Roxas whispered soundlessly, only to be cut off when Axel snapped the lipstick shut, then held a finger to his lips to motion for silence.

Axel raised a gloved hand, his knuckles just about to lightly tap against the door, "I know you're there, Axel." A chilly voice growled from inside, halting the impending knock.

Axel pushed the door open gingerly, smiling as though he was greeting one of his best friends "Zexion, old buddy, dear friend… now what clued you in?"

"You stink…" Zexion glared from below his layers of hair, tapping his book very lightly against the side of his head, a taunting sort of gesture on his part.

"Excuse me?!" Axel growled and glared over at Roxas who began to laugh in short uncontrollable spurts, sounding very much like a little barking dog. "I'll have you know I'm wearing only the best cologne."

"It's hideous, and you don't have to bathe in it, you know." Zexion snorted, the book he had been holding so defensively began to lower just a little.

"He carries around one of those Axe bullets just in case…" Roxas snickered.

"I want to live those commercials…" Axel grinned stupidly, Roxas' words triggering one of his many commercial induced fantasies about himself in a sea of bikini-clad women.

Zexion rolled his eyes, "Please, like any woman is going to jump a counter to get to YOU and your disgusting body spray."

"HEY! Do I squash your dreams like a bug on windshield!?" Axel snarled.

"Naw, you just write on my face while I dream… Jerk." Zexion's guard finally lowered completely, despite his fierce words, the book now dangled limply by his side. "What do you want, Axel?"

Axel sighed; tilting his head back as though the next words that were about to spill from his lips pained him terribly. "Do you know of anything that can get rid of bruises?"

"I rather like that one on you." Zexion grinned like a Cheshire cat, running a finger from his forehead down to his chin to indicate he knew exactly what bruise Axel was whining about.

"Come on, man, you took pictures, isn't that enough to remember it by!?" Axel howled.

"He did?!" Roxas perked up, his attention suddenly falling on Zexion, "You did?!"

"Of course I did," Zexion nodded in the direction of a desk in the corner, a pristine looking scrapbook settled comfortably on the surface for all to see.

"OOOOH! I wanna see!!" Roxas gasped as he lunged for the book and began to thumb through it.

Axel stared at the little blonde for a moment, his jaw tensing visible signs that he was grinding his teeth in irritation, "I really wonder what kind of friend you are sometimes, I mean I seriously do NOT need enemies with friends like you."

"But it's FUNNY!" Roxas grinned sheepishly as he held up the image of Axel in a pink tutu. "Can't you take a joke!?"

"It's not funny. And it will never be funny." Axel ground out, teeth still clenched, "There's nothing funny about a manly dude like me being forced to wear a chick's dress…"

"So said the one that made me wear Namine's clothes…" Roxas snorted as he turned the page.

"Keyword was MANLY dude…" Axel sneered.

"You wanna run that by me again, spaz?" Roxas snarled as he readied to lunge for Axel.

"I called you a dainty little girly-boy… I mean I seriously think I don't have a best friend; I don't hang with the guys... No, I've got a little sister tagging after me... Wanna make something of it?" Axel snorted planting his palm in the middle of Roxas' forehead, holding him just out of arms reach.

Roxas swung at him a few times growling a bit only to give up quickly, "Zexion, hit him with something."

"Hmmm, I'm rather enjoying this little battle of wits, so I think not." Zexion sighed.

"Hey, twinkle toes, for someone who seems to take such great pleasure in others torment, I don't see any photos of your initiation in there." Axel gave Roxas a slight shove, forcing him back a few stumbling steps.

"Then you're not looking very closely." Zexion nodded at the book that had fallen to the floor.

"Wait, I've been all through that book, I never saw yours… They started at three and went on from there, but I never saw yours." Roxas picked up the scrapbook and thumbed through it again. "See, it goes from Lexaeus… which dude, he's the ugliest chick I've ever seen…" Roxas shuddered as he flipped the page, "Then some fantasy print and straight to Saix."

Axel peered over Roxas' shoulder at the book, "Saix is a little disturbing too, kinda Viking Valkarie that'll sooner eat you than look at you. So what's with the hawt goddess? Cheater… you can't just throw in some random video game pin up and skip your own."

Zexion didn't say a word; the only acknowledgment of Axel's statement was the slight raise of his visible eyebrow and a slight grimace tugging at his lips.

Axel and Roxas both stared at him, then back at the photo, then back at Zexion once more. An airy light blue gown with multiple layers of soft teal fabric tied at the waist with a gold sash adorned the figure. The style of the clothes almost mixed a Greek goddess with a fairy. Long detached sleeves gathered by gold bands at the mid upper arm seemed to flow out as though they were caught on some soft breeze. 'She' had various gold chains wrapped around her neck, and a small tiara that wrapped around the forehead, and an elegantly adorned harp clutched in her hands. The only thing that seemed slightly off was the fact that she had short blue hair when they expected to see long blue hair. That was the only clue to the identity of the figure in the image.

Roxas gaped like a fish without water.

Now that they were looking closely they could see, what had looked like the goddess of the Triforce of Wisdom, Nayru, was actually Zexion. "WHAT THE CRAP!?"

Zexion shrugged, "I take my cosplaying very seriously…."

"Why would you keep your own..." Axel twitched, a look on his face like he just smelled something horrible.

Zexion fidgeted, trying to think of a way to change the subject. The last thing he wanted was to admit he rather liked cosplaying and took every costume seriously no matter what the character, even if it was something embarrassing like that one. It was one of his best since people never could figure out who it was in the photo no matter how long they stared at it... usually.

Roxas' eyes widened, then his expression completely shifted to an evil sneer, "Axel called Zexion hawt..."

"I WHAT?! NO... NO I DIDN'T! Shut up!" Axel slapped Roxas along the back of the head.

"As flattering as that was..." Zexion grimaced, suppressing the gag reflex but failing in doing so. "Let's change the subject now."

"Yeah, bruises. Tell me how to make this go away." Axel quickly followed that conversation path, wanting to forget his little slip.

Zexion sauntered over to one of his numerous piles of books, skimming his fingers along the spines until he found one that he was looking for. "I suppose you've suffered enough; well maybe not quit enough, but I'm forgiving and generous to a fault I suppose. There is one cure I can think of... let's see." Zexion cracked open the book and skimmed the pages.

"Generous and forgiving my toosh." Axel grumbled under his breath.

If Zexion had heard the insult he opted to ignore it, "Ah, here... Hirudo Therapy. A technique widely used in many cultures over many years, it was discarded around the end of the 19th century... hmm... but it has begun to pick up popularity again in some areas."

"Hiru-wha?" Axel gaped, not sure what in the world was just said to him.

"Woooah... lost its pull around the 19th century... you're talking medieval hookie-pookie aren't you?" Roxas shivered at the thought.

"But it does work to some extent." Zexion smiled, "Just because the technique is old doesn't mean it's completely useless."

"Ok, but what is this Hokkaido therapy?" Axel pushed again.

"Hirudo. Hirudo Therapy." The Cloaked schemer corrected as he closed the book with a snap. "In other words... let's get a big fat leech and stick it to your face!"

"UUUUUUGH!!" Axel and Roxas both screamed and jumped about three feet away from the now snickering nobody.

"That's sick, Man, just SICK!!" Axel almost squealed. "If you're not going to take this seriously then I'll just leave, I should have known better than to ask you."

"You asked what would take away the bruising, I told you." Zexion sighed, "The leech would take away the blood that's caught under the skin and..."

"NOO, NO, no, no, NOOOO!" Axel clamped his hands over his ears, "I don't want to hear it! I'm not listening to you!"

"Oh please, you big baby. There are far worse things in the worlds than a minor little nip from a slimy, worm-like creature." Zexion started to set his book down but paused mid movement, a scent he recognized was approaching, but something was off about it.

A strange crackling noise, like a low buzz of energy, pricked at the Cloaked Schemer's ears. He started to ask if the others heard it too when his bedroom door suddenly flew open with a tremendous slam. It ripped from the door frame, denting the wall; the nails in the hinges of his door flew across the room and imbedded themselves in various places. The air that rushed into the now wide-open entry crackled with built up electricity sending off small sparks of yellow light in every direction.

"That would be one of them..." Zexion sighed as the Savage Nymph stormed into the room.

"YOU!!" she roared as she pointed at Axel, one of her small daggers clutched between her fingers threateningly. "You have something of mine and don't you dare try to deny it, because Marluxia told me YOU took it, you freak of nature, and I want it back, NOW!"

Axel was leaning back as far as he could without actually falling on his rump while Larxene leaned ever closer until she was practically nose-to-nose with the Flurry. He quickly reached into his pocket and held out her lipstick with nothing but a sheepish grin on his face for an excuse.

Larxene let out a snarl and snatched the stick from his weak grasp before she finally backed down and turned off the electric works. The room was eerily silent for a few moments after that.

"Larxy!! You shouldn't kick Zexy's door in like that... oh..." The whine from down the hall suddenly trailed off, "Oh... uh oh." Demyx had finally caught up with the Savage Nymph but he slammed to a screeching halt once he reached the doorway, making Marluxia bump into him from behind.

Marluxia flicked his blue eyes over the scene and then studied the edge of the door with shattered hinges and splintering wood. "She's so skillful."

"Yes, Larxene, Demyx is correct... Did you have to kick in my door?" Zexion grunted as he dropped his book on the nearest pile.

"Pul-ease, it can be fixed. If I don't put the fear in you monkeys how am I expected to keep my reputation?" She smiled as she started to unscrew her lipstick.

"Oh how beautiful, everything that falls from her lips is like poetry." Marluxia sighed dreamily behind Demyx.

Every Nobody in the room turned and stared at him blankly.

"There's something wrong with Sakura-chan, he's been saying weird things all day. I think you should take a look at him, Zexion." Larxene raised an eyebrow at Marluxia, as she ran the tip of her lipstick over her pale pink lips, noting the way he watched her actions so intently.

The slight cherry petal coloring of the stick now stained her lips a darker and more attractive shade of pink. It wasn't until she pursed her lips to spread the pigment evenly that she felt something wash over her, something very strange. On instinct she shook her head lightly as she flicked her tongue over her bottom lip for just a second. The wave of dizziness hit her hard after that small action, her mind felt as though it was spinning. She glanced at Zexion who still had his dark blue eyes on her; she could see a strange sort of questioning look on his face as he watched her. Her vision became hazy, she felt so light now as she turned her gaze to Axel.

With an evil curl in the corner of his mouth, and slightly narrowed and amused emerald eyes, he began to study her. He had done something, and she had fallen for it too. Much anger mixed with fear suddenly gripped her; it was like nothing she had ever felt... and that is what frightened her more than anything. Feeling fear within her chest, like icy fingers wrapping around something and squeezing the life out of her, her thoughts dissipated to nothing and she collapsed to the floor.

Zexion lunged, he could see it coming, the glazed look in her usually bright and fiery eyes had dulled suddenly. He managed to dive down and catch her by the shoulders, cradling her head against his own shoulder before she had completely crumpled to the ground.

"Larxene!" Zexion called to her as he cradled her in his arms, patting her cheek with his free hand trying to get her to open her eyes.

"What happened!?" Zexion's harsh question went unnoticed by all. He cast his gaze up at the musician still standing stricken in the doorway, his aquamarine eyes wide with disbelief. Suddenly Demyx's expression hardened as he jerked his gaze toward Axel, shooting a death glare for the briefest of moments before joining Zexion on the floor.

"Larxy?" Her name fell from his lips in a whisper as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Zexy is she..."

Of course, it made perfect sense. Demyx couldn't hide anything, and Axel always seemed to be the root of any problem. Zexion flicked his head to the side, his silver blue hair falling away from his eyes with the movement. "What did you do?" He spat the question at Axel, while ignoring Demyx's worry.

"Me!?" Axel gaped, "Why does everyone always blame me when something goes wrong?"

"Prolly because you're the cause of everyone's problems." Roxas chuckled evilly, receiving a sharp elbow to the side.

Demyx was still gently running his fingers through Larxene's hair, calling to her in a worried tone, "It's worse this time, it's worse than it was with Mar Mar..." he was whispering then his voiced faded to silence.

Zexion flicked his eyes down at Demyx then back at Axel, he was about to bark the question at the pyromaniac again but his words froze in his throat as he witnessed something he'd never seen in all his time as a nobody. Rage; pure unadulterated fury, had snapped suddenly like the crack of thunder from a lightning storm.

Within a matter of a second Marluxia had crossed the room, doubling back his fist and planted it squarely into Axel's jaw. The force of the blow slammed Axel back against the wall, temporarily dazing him. By the time the red head's mind cleared after being so fiercely rattled he realized he couldn't breathe, long fingers were tightening around his neck, cutting off the flow of air.

"R..Ro..." Axel panicked, starting to call for his friend but silenced as the hand squeezed tighter and pinned him to the wall, his feet couldn't even touch the ground anymore. He dangled from the grasp around his throat like a rag doll.

"I swear upon all things holy that I will kill you if she is dead." Marluxia breathed, the threat coming out more like the growl of an enraged lion.

Roxas lunged for Marluxia, trying to use the force of his body to make the taller Nobody step back off his friend. Yet it failed; hitting Marluxia's chest was like hitting a brick wall, all Roxas could do was push and try to pry the hand from Axel.

"Demyx! Help!!" Roxas cried, still stunned that he couldn't make Marluxia budge even an inch.

Demyx twitched, his name being called snapping him out of his stupor as the sight continued unfolding before him. Within seconds he was on his feet, trying to pry the Graceful Assassin away with every ounce of his strength.

"She's ok Mar Mar! She's not dead!! Let him go!" Demyx was pulling on the fabric of Marluxia's shirt now, a tearing noise sounding out as one of his buttons ripped off and fell to the floor. "PLEASE!! LARUMIA!"

Recognition flashed through Marluxia's eyes partially hidden beneath cherry colored bangs. The desperation and fear in the musician's voice seemed to finally reach the ears of the assassin. Marluxia released Axel's neck, watching as the other man coughed and slid to the ground. His hand then rested on golden-blonde spiky locks of hair as he pushed Roxas away from him with the same amount of ease he would have thrown a doll.

Zexion just watched, his jaw slack in disbelieve. He just witnessed something he'd never seen a Nobody do before; the pure rage and fear, not for the concern of their own body but that of another. It wasn't a rehearsed act, he could see so clearly the fury that burned violently behind those blue eyes. Nobody's lacked hearts; therefore they should not feel emotional attachments to anything, especially for someone else. Their emotions were lost; selfishness and self preservation seemed to rule their thinking now, so why would Marluxia do something like that? Why would he become enraged at the thought of losing Larxene?

And what had Demyx called him?

Something had unlocked the emotions, somehow the part of Marluxia that had been lost to the darkness was returning, perhaps not entirely, but in some way he had regained part of himself. It all seemed strangely theoretically familiar.

Zexion gasped suddenly, his thoughts twisted completely around from the questions on the tip of his tongue to something else. Back to something he had been told a while ago while in Vexen's lab.

Vexen had been studying the heart once again; stumbling across something he had called the "essence of the heart". But it was a volatile substance; he had quickly labeled it as a potential weapon against Nobodies rather than a help. What he had hoped would bring back their lost hearts only filled them with an intense unstable emotional imbalance. It was unfit for testing on a Nobody of their level for all the smaller ones had either ceased to exist or gone insane.

"You idiot... You stole the Essence from Vexen's lab?" Zexion gasped.

Demyx turned, "Essence? Zexy, you know what this is? Can you help Mar Mar?"

Zexion seemed to retreat back into his mind for a moment, searching his memory for answers as though he were looking it up in one of his books. "I think... There is something that can be done. We need to..."

"Ugh" Larxene shifted in Zexion's arms, dark lashes fluttering for a moment before she weakly gazed up into the three faces hovering over her.

The second the sound had escaped her petal colored lips Marluxia and Demyx had returned to her side, waiting with worry etched across their faces. She caught both their gazes; her befuddled look shifting to something more like that of tender affection. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, her eyes finally had a sparkle of amusement glistening behind them.

"Were you two worried about me?" Her voice was faint, but the tone was so soft and gentle, like nothing they had ever heard before.

Both shook their heads stupidly in affirmation, watching as she tried to sit up with help from Zexion, who now seemed highly alarmed by her gentle reactions.

Once she was somewhat sturdy on her feet she flung her arms around Marluxia's neck, giving him a squeeze, "I'm so lucky to have friends like you!" She sniffled as she reached out and grabbed Demyx by his little black tank top and pulled him into a group hug. "What would I do without you?! I love you guys!"

The sniffles turned into all out tears of joy as she planted friendly kisses on both their cheeks. Demyx stepped back absently rubbing the spot on his cheek, confused yet strangely happy, "Larxy, are you ok?"

"Shhhhh, she's fine..." Marluxia snorted at Demyx, then gazed lovingly back at the object of his affection that now seemed to care about him too, "We love you too... Me more than him... well just me... I love you... forget Demyx."

"That's..." Roxas fidgeted; rolling his eyes back at Axel who was also staring slack jawed at the display of affection.

"Scary beyond all reason..." Axel's eye twitched as he finished Roxas' statement.

"You did." Zexion interrupted, shaking his head and tearing his gaze away from the train wreck happening in his room. "Axel, you stole the Elixir that Vexen had in the lab, didn't you?! That's why he's been running around like a mad man!"

"Who? Me?" Axel made a show of looking innocent, "Of course not! Vexen is always running around like he's one OAV short of a series; don't use me as an excuse."

"Then how do you explain this sudden flood of emotional trauma in beings that SHOULDN'T be emotional!? Didn't you learn ANYTHING from your last stunt?" Zexion growled taking a threatening step towards the Flurry and his little buddy; a tug on his black coat stopped him.

"Zexion don't..." that eerily gentle voice. Inwardly Zexion wondered if this side of Larxene was even scarier than the screeching banshee she once was.

He slowly turned to find Larxene staring at him, a smile on her face. The look was pleasant but it had the opposite effect on the Schemer. He felt a cold chill run down his spine as she stepped closer.

"I don't remember much, my head feels kinda fuzzy right now, but I remember that you caught me, Zexion. Thank you." A light blush crept over her face as she spoke, "I don't know how I can ever repay you for your kindness... You're so sweet, I always thought so but for some reason I couldn't say so..."

Zexion blinked, instinct forcing him to lean back, but morbid curiosity keeping him from bolting from her grasp on his sleeve. "Its fine, Larxene, don't worry about..."

All coherent thoughts came to a grinding, screeching halt. All the questions, the worry, the irritation at Axel's stupidity; all melted before this foreign sensation that silenced his words. The only thing that now registered in the cloaked schemer's mind was the sudden feeling of soft lips against his in a light kiss.

Zexion's last coherent thought was a mental slap to himself for letting something like this happen, he could still hear Axel's maniacal laughter echoing in his head the second she had kissed him, taunting him, reminding him of his folly. One should never let their guard down around the Flurry of Dancing Flames, or they get burned.

The hideous laughter shifted into something else entirely, wailing sounds of humans screaming in pain, the hearts breaking, worlds dying, the horrible sounds and images of heartless being born from the darkness.

The sounds of his sins against all the worlds.

Memories slammed his mind, the pain in his chest returned to him in full, the terror he felt the day his somebody died and he had been reborn as Nobody. Everything came back to him as though it were still happening, his own screams shattering the stillness of the room and mingling with the memories pounding in his own mind.

Then everything was dark and silent once again.

Track 5 End: Love Stoned

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_The Crimson Elixir, the Essence of the Heart... a substance that returns a Nobody to the state just before they turned? Or is it something else entirely... Only Vexen holds the answers to the secrets swirling around that tiny little flask. But will Axel stop his tests before he single handedly brings down the entire Organization? And what about Zexion? Now that he's been infected with emotion what will become of him?_

_To be continued in Track 6: Sympathy for the Martyr_

Extra Blah: yeah it was the kiss... never written a kiss before... But someone had to go down that way. KISS OF DEATH!!


	6. Sympathy for the Martyr

**Ultra Special BLAH BLAH BLAH:** Well now we are all caught up with what I've posted on DA! Hopefully I won't fall beind again here... just gimme a kick (note) if I start taking forever and a day again. Chances are I just forgot to post them. However, I am in the middle of a big move right now, so there won't be a new Dyme chapter for a bit. Going to loose the net connection soon, but I'll continue to work on the story and send it to my wonderful beta reader, Darkbladezz, when I can.

Today's song is one I love very very much! "Sympathy for the Martyr" by Straylight Run. There will be two spots that Zexion will quote just a fraction of the song, but not enough for this to even begin to be classified as a song fic... it just isn't.

* * *

Dyme and the Dozen

**Track 6: Sympathy for the Martyr**

Lost in the darkness... long ignored memories were revisited... strange emotions returned...

_Radiant Garden was no longer so radiant. Darkness was taking it over, seeping into the planet's very being. Steeping hearts with thoughts of the void._

_Controlling... Manipulating... _

_People that were once kind were now becoming tainted with bitterness and hatred. Bright hearts filled with light... now reflected a magnified glimpse of that tiny bit of darkness found in all hearts. Some escaped to worlds unknown before they could feel the change of despair... some did not..._

_Darkness was stirring in every heart that remained, conquering even the strongest of them._

There was a faint light glowing on the desk, a tiny flicker of lamplight fighting away the darkness in the room. The only sound echoing in the stillness was that of a pen scratching rapidly across paper, spilling forth research notes; accompanied by the faint sound of breathing, lips silently forming the words in a whisper as they were being transcribed.

"The heart... consumed by darkness... devoid of emotion... the Heartless appear intelligent..."

The hand that grasped the pen so tightly paused the furious writing, seemingly frozen for a moment in contemplation. "Lacking emotion, yet Heartless remain intelligent... And what of the body and soul left behind? What if that becomes another being as well?" The deep voice of the one immersed in thought finally trailed off as he continued to arrange the thoughts plaguing his mind onto the paper. "I wonder if one with a strong enough heart might be able to transcend such a fate. It appears that Heartless created from beings with stronger hearts form stronger, more intelligent Heartless. Perhaps there would be so much more knowledge the darkness might be able to offer... if only we can overcome that fateful outcome... I wonder... perhaps the body..."

"Master Xehanort..."

A young voice interrupted the audible musings that had not been meant to be heard by any but the one speaking. Dark blue eyes flickered from the dimly lit pages on the desk up to where the entry of the room was located. "Ienzo, I told you to call me Ansem from now on."

"In public... and we are not in public, so I'll call you whatever I like." Ienzo snorted, despite the harshness of the words there was a sort of underlying respect for the man he was back talking to. "Besides, I never did like that old guy, he gave me the heebie jeebies."

"Then I'll take that as a compliment and not the snide remark it sounded like... You really should work on that attitude of yours. Your contempt for the 'older generations' is starting to bother some of the others... Even is starting to get..." Xehanort paused, "slightly irritated."

"Tch, boo-hoo... he's such a busybody. Everything annoys him." Footsteps echoed in the dark room revealing that Ienzo entered further from the doorway, walking closer to the desk. "_So tie the noose, and raise the cross... the martyr's arrived.._."

"Funny, that's what he quotes about you..." Xehanort chuckled. "He says you listen to that, and numerous other types of 'emo' music a little too much. He says it's affecting your thought processes."

"Tch, he just doesn't understand it. It speaks the truth about the world – that style of music." There was an audible sigh in the darkness. "The world is a dark and lonely place... So, uh... why make it worse by lurking in a dark study. Why are the lights off?"

"I find the darkness helps me think... It's quiet." There was a loud crack as Xehanort leaned back and rolled his head to the side, "I think I'll call it a night though." With that, he leaned to the side and flicked a switch that suddenly illuminated the large study in brilliant light.

"Warning next time, please..." Ienzo rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, trying to shoo away the light bubbles that danced behind his eyelids. His dark violet tinted hair nearly hid half of his face keeping the agonized look partially concealed until he finally brushed it back behind his ear.

"Was there something you needed, Ienzo?"

The youngest apprentice faltered, his hand sliding down to cover his mouth as he stared out through his smudged lenses at the wall off to the side of his leader. He seemed so nervous suddenly, very unlike himself. He was an emotional person, but nervousness and fear were not emotions he displayed very easily.

"I'm a little worried about what's been going on in the basement laboratory." He paused, not quite sure how to continue. "The Heartless seem to be multiplying so rapidly... Both the artificial ones and the original Shadows. What if we lose control of them? What if they escape into other worlds?"

"That is of little concern to us..." Xehanort stated flatly.

"But what about all the... innocent..."

"There is darkness in every heart, there is no such thing as 'innocent' people. And since when have you been concerned with trivial things such as this? Tell me, do you fear the darkness?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Ienzo snapped. But the fury behind his voice died as quickly as it had surged. "I just... started thinking... Perhaps we shouldn't be so reckless with the hearts of so many people. If we were to lose control of the situation..."

"There's nothing to worry about, we have everything under control. We six have strong hearts and a strong desire to learn more about the darkness of the heart. Nothing will go wrong." Xehanort studied his young apprentice's face for a moment; he could see that his words weren't reaching through whatever it was that suddenly began to bother the boy.

"Guilt..."

Ienzo sighed, eyelids lowering, a sign that the older man had hit the nail on the head.

"You're young, Ienzo, it's normal to be concerned about such things. That's what makes us human. But a good scientist will be able to see past his own emotions and work for the knowledge he seeks. Sometimes sacrifices must be made, but it is for the greater good." Xehanort leaned forward, lacing his fingers together in front of his chin and leaning on his elbows. "However, if this is concerning you so much that it has gotten to the point where it is affecting your work, I can let you... take a vacation."

Ienzo had relaxed against the edge of the desk, but the words 'take a vacation' sent him flying off like a cat being doused with a glass of ice water. "WHAT!? You want to kick me off the project?! You can't do that! Just because I'm voicing a minor concern, you're ready to give me the boot! It's not fair! I've done so much for this project – I pull more than my own weight around here, and I've even done most of Braig's work!! You can't just–"

The frantic rants subsided as a deep chuck erupted from the older man. Ienzo finally snorted. "You were just yanking my chain weren't you?... You're such a jerk."

"The work is that important to you?" It was a simple and to the point question.

"Of course, I want to see this through. No matter what," Ienzo stated, determination lacing his words.

"Good. You have a strong heart, and with that strong heart will come issues like this... it's only natural...as I said, we are human after all. Just don't let silly little things like this get in-between you and the path to knowledge. Everything will work out for the best."

Ienzo nodded as he turned back to the door; he respected this man more than any other. Xehanort let nothing get in his way; he was strong, and determined to find what it was he had lost. Often times Ienzo wished he could be more like him, he wished for just a fraction of that strength that drove Xehenort on for his lost memories, the commitment for this research into the darkness of the heart.

"Thank you, Master Xe...Ansem... I'm afraid I was starting to lose sight of our goals for a moment there. I'll see you in the morning."

Xehanort waited until the door was just about to close. "Oh, and Ienzo... please stop trying to teach that little caged Heartless you have on your desk the lyrics to 'Miss Murder'... there's nothing more disturbing than a Heartless attempting the Screamo part of that song..."

A chuckle was all that wafted back to him as the door clicked shut.

"Yes... we are human... creatures ruled by emotion. We shouldn't even allow such things like 'emotion' to enter our thoughts. And yet there it is, trying to haunt us, trying to hinder our progress. Perhaps the knowledge found in darkness can help us rid ourselves of these minor setbacks. We have strong hearts... but our emotions keep us from doing what we must." Xehanort glanced down at his notes, tracing a finger across the letters that formed 'Keyblade.'

"I need to find this Keyblade bearer... and the Princesses to open the Door to Darkness... but to do that I will have to cast aside this weak emotional shell... too frail for such an endeavor." Xehanort stood, silently contemplating something for a moment. "I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness..."

"But..." he paused again as he folded up his notes into a folder on the desk, "will that bring me back as a Heartless, unaware of myself... and what of my body and soul left behind? I just cannot foresee the consequences of such an action." Xehanort seemed to falter in is resolve for a moment, yet something dark within his heart seemed to push him further. "Perhaps I'll see what happens to strong hearts that turn before I willingly take my own heart..." Dark eyes shifted, a strange sort of sadness and determination seemed to swirl behind the entries to his soul as he glanced up at the door that Ienzo had exited. "Sacrifices... no matter how difficult, must be made. All for the pursuit of knowledge."

It wasn't long after that the world was consumed by darkness and transformed into something unrecognizable. Screams of agony echoed throughout that land as strong hearts turned into emotionless shells, and not long after a small princess was sent to lead the way to a key and the heart that called to it.

_Yes, Radiant Garden was no longer radiant. Hallow Bastion was now a dark reflection, a mirror of her master's heart, now stolen by darkness. _

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

Determination pushed two dark figures silently down the hallway; each step they took echoed out loudly and bounced off the walls adding to the eerie intensity of their appearance. One was powerful looking; a sort of looming presence commanding silent respect. The other was smaller, yet almost majestic in the way he seemed to glide across the floor with ease. A look of intensity was etched upon both their faces, revealing that they had a mission; a mission of the utmost importance that had to be fulfilled quickly.

Little did they know, they were already far too late.

Vexen slowed his pace, faltering for just a brief moment; his eternally stirring thoughts suddenly fading to a dull whisper as he stared down the hallway they were currently walking. He had heard a sound; no, 'sound' was such a gentle word – this was a wail. Something unfamiliar in their world, and yet he swore he had heard it before. It was a scream like one he had heard so long ago. One he had almost forgotten in all the days spent building up the Organization. One he wished he could completely forget. This was something he had pushed aside just as all Nobodies had; they willed themselves to forget that moment they were 'born'.

Even though they lacked emotion now, there seemed to be such a horrible feeling that lingered around that memory. Fear and anger wrapped up tightly around it that could still grip them if they dared to think about it too long, despite their lack of hearts. The only thing he could figure is that the memories of those emotions were so vivid a Nobody could trick themselves into thinking they could still feel it. And with it came that overwhelming sense of meaninglessness, the reminder of what they were – a Nobody.

Their Somebodies almost literally die when their hearts are taken, leaving behind the body and soul of a being that is no longer quite human – no longer the same being. Like a wine vessel without the wine... it simply becomes an empty bottle. Empty and lost... confused. Meaningless. That knowledge alone is enough to break some. Perhaps that is why most Nobody's became the lesser kind that were only fit to be controlled by ones that were stronger. Only strong hearts could produce the human-like shells, and even then they needed something to hold on to, something to give them some sort of meaning.

Xemnas pulled them together, he instilled them with the burning need to create the Organization and regain their lost hearts. He understood what they were missing right away, and it was his burning desire to be whole once again that drove all of them onward, gave them reason to exist despite the fact that they shouldn't. They wished to be whole so they could be accepted and not banished to this in-between realm.

They could remember who they were and what they lost; yet they pushed it all aside in order to move forward with this common goal. The first thing to go was the memory of being turned; they blocked it from their minds because it was such a hindrance to them. They simply chose to forget that misfortune and focus only on their goals, giving little thought to their former selves except to remember how to act sad or happy when the circumstances called for it.

Xemnas was a somewhat sad case; he knew so much, but had nearly forgotten how to act as though he had emotions other than that of mild irritation. It seemed as though he could no longer remember what it was like to even have a heart, and yet he still strived to reclaim it. And then there was Roxas, the boy who seemed to be the complete opposite. He had absolutely no memories of his former self, yet he housed a strange sort of purity behind his eyes. He worked as though he truly felt, as thought he had a heart guiding his actions. But they knew it was impossible for him to feel anything. Often times Vexen would sit with Zexion, or even Xigbar, of all people, and debate on who was better off… No memories with false emotions, or memories and a lacking ability to even mimic emotions.

So it was no surprise that the sound Vexen heard startled him, bringing back a flood of unwanted memories he would have rather kept locked behind that dark mental veil, untouched and forgotten. He felt a shiver run down his spine, just as it had so long ago, that horrible sound coming back again opening the doors to things he didn't want to see again. Yet he wondered how he could have ever suppressed that memory.

… For he had been one of the few to see Ienzo turn…

Even was the one that opened the door bewildered at that strange noise, only to find that the captive Heartless had broken free and were swarming the castle. Their first stolen heart was the youngest of the six. He had heard the boy's last words, filled with regret as his heart was ripped from him.

"_We made a mistake... Master..."_

Vexen shook his head as though that action could wipe his mind of those thoughts – those useless memories.

"Something's wrong..." he whispered almost calmly, an action that seemed unnatural coming from him. "That sounded like Ien...Zexion."

Lexaeus shifted his weight from one foot to the other, eyeing the shorter Nobody. He was so used to seeing Vexen in a frenzied state. The man seemed to be on a permanent buzz, constantly talking and moving. Always so stressed out and frantic it seemed like he lived on stress like most humans lived by breathing. But now he was suddenly calmed, he seemed almost depressed in a way. It was a clear sign that that terrified scream had reached him, affected him, and bothered him on some level.

"Then we should hurry and see what is the matter, something terrible may have happened. Perhaps Zexion may be in some sort of trouble." Lexaeus spoke, that too was unusual, especially for a man of so few words. But those with few words often speak only what needs to be heard.

Vexen flinched at the sound that interrupted his mind replaying that scene over and over, looking up briefly at his companion. "Yes, indeed."

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

"Zexy! Zexion? Come back Zexion!" Demyx was leaning over the Schemer, calling his name just as he had done previously with Larxene. This time it was different though. He had been worried about both Marluxia and Larxene when they fell, but they seemed to go down so peacefully. Like someone who had stood up too fast and collapsed from being lightheaded, waking up quickly and seemingly okay.

This though, this had been so horribly violent. It was almost as though Zexion's mind had gone somewhere else; he was no longer seeing this room and the people in it. Whatever it was that had happened must have been horrifying, if the scream that ripped from the usually collected bookworm was any sort of indication.

A blood curdling scream and Zexion dropped to his knees in agony, and now...

"He won't wake up..." Demyx whispered.

Roxas was next to him in a flash, just as he had done to check on Marluxia. He didn't need to check very closely for signs of breathing; Zexion seemed to almost be hyperventilating, almost like someone trying to escape a horrid nightmare. "He'll be okay, Demyx. He's still breathing... he's okay." Roxas wondered if he was trying to convince himself, rather than Demyx.

"Guys, is he okay? I didn't mean to hurt him! What happened?" Larxene was leaning just above Demyx's shoulder, worried eyes studying the heap on the floor. "Is there something I can do?"

"Take your lipstick off before you get any more of that potion in your mouth..." Roxas said calmly as he glanced up at her.

Larxene touched her lips with her index finger. "M...my lipstick? It did that?"

"Tch... He deserved that... I hope he dies... Jerk," Marluxia mumbled under his breath.

"Shut up, Larumia... you're not helping," Demyx commanded. The words normally would be perceived as harsh but this of course was Demyx, and he hardly _ever_ sounded harsh.

Marluxia tensed just for a second and then let out a sigh or irritation, turning away from the scene playing out before him.

"Wow, Demyx... Since when did you transform into the take-charge kind of guy?" Roxas chuckled sheepishly at the musician, trying to lighten the heavy mood that had swarmed down on them.

"This is so much worse..." Demyx whispered low when Roxas leaned over just within earshot of him. "The others didn't... scream like that... What do you think made him react like that? And why won't he wake up now? You think the elixir, like, expired or something? Like milk?!"

Roxas was at a loss for words, he didn't understand the true potency of the elixir that Zexion had called 'The Essence of the Heart.' or what exactly it could do to them. He shook his head slowly then glanced over his shoulder to where Axel was leaning against the wall. The sight instantly pushed all worries over Zexion completely from the young Nobody's mind.

Axel was still leaning against the wall where Marluxia had left him but he wasn't looking in their direction, gloating as he usually did when he pulled a fast one on someone. His head was lowered, turned away slightly, and yet Roxas could see that his eyes were closed and his eyebrows were starting to knit together in what looked like a worried expression. The dead give away to Axel's inner thoughts though, was in the way he was nervously wringing his hands together.

Roxas was floored; totally and completely dumbstruck. Axel had been acting a little odd all morning, but this was just beyond anything he'd seen before. Before he knew it his jaw fell slack and he breathed out a question. "Axel? What..."

Axel heard the faint sound of Roxas' voice, quickly dropping his hands to his sides and tried to wipe the expression etched on his face away. He cleared his throat and pushed off the wall, walking for the battered open door before anyone else could notice his odd behavior.

Roxas was about to follow when he felt a hand suddenly grip his coat sleeve, keeping him on his knees. He turned expecting to see Demyx's pleading aquamarine eyes but found it was Zexion who had snatched hold of the material.

"M...Mm... Master...Xehanort..." Zexion breathed, the words echoing in the silent room. "We... I think... we made a mistake..."

"It's alright... don't talk..." Roxas whispered. "We'll be whole again soon... there's nothing to worry about anymore."

The tight grip the Schemer had on Roxas' sleeve finally slackened, his muscles relaxed as a strange sort of smile began to tug at the corner of his mouth. "_Convinced that your critics are watching, and you've always got something to prove..._"

Roxas tilted his head, pondering the strange words. The only conclusion he could make was Zexion must not be entirely 'with them' at the moment, and perhaps he was just reliving some memory or thought that had been on the edge of his mind before he fainted.

"Wow, that sounded emo..." Larxene grunted, a glimmer of her old self finally breaking through the rosy loving image she had been displaying earlier.

"I like that kind of music... what of it..." Zexion's mouth pulled into a lopsided smile as he muttered in his still half asleep state. "It often speaks of the darkness... in everyone's hearts, our battle to be what we wish to be. Existential..."

"Exi...exi..." Demyx stuttered over the word. "Big words... Something's wrong, he's using big words..."

Roxas chuckled despite the musician's worry. "Demyx, come on... it's Zexion. He ALWAYS uses big words; he's a walking dictionary. His weapon is a Lexicon for crying out loud!"

"But he never uses them around ME!! We have to get help!!" Demyx jumped to his feet, panicking as he turned around a couple times in one spot, trying to find some sort of answer in the Cloaked Schemer's room. "Larxy! Mar Mar... Mar... Larumia?"

Marluxia was nowhere to be seen; neither was Axel for that matter. Both had slipped away while Zexion was coming back to the land of the 'living' from wherever it was he had been visiting. Larxene placed a gentle hand on Demyx's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, forcing him to stop his frantic search for who knows what and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, Demmy, try not be so worried. Marluxia is fine, I'm fine, and Zexion will be fine too... you'll see." Larxene's words were so reassuring, so gentle; it sent a shiver down Demyx's spine. The unfamiliar tone in her voice, the soothing tenderness of it, only served to push him further away. At first the sweet personality was kind of nice, but something so unfamiliar was the last thing he wanted right now. Sure, he knew that deep down Larxene liked them...maybe... She would often let it slip for just a brief second before punching him or covering it over with a gruff insult. But the blatant love and kindness she was showing now just seemed unnerving. He wanted something reassuring right now.

"Larxene..." Demyx sighed.

"Relena... I don't want to be called Larxene... It feels like you're calling me by someone else's name." Larxene sighed, wrapping her arms around herself and walking away from the two stunned Nobodies and their semi-unconscious comrade. "I know it's my name, it is who I am now. But all of that feels like a dream to me suddenly... one I wished I could wake up from for so long and just... couldn't. So much anger that never seemed to leave, this bitterness to the world for what happened... A dark part of my soul, finally being set free…unchecked…untamed. And I couldn't stop that hidden nature deep within that wanted respect and fear. I also couldn't show people that I actually cared about them anymore... I hated what I had become... That savage self shouldn't have ever come into existence."

"Larxene..." Demyx paused for a moment, long enough for the blonde woman to turn back and shoot him a confused glance at his refusal to call her by her real name. "I won't accept that. I can call you Relena for a while if you want; as long as that elixir is affecting you, I will call you whatever you like. But I will not stand here and listen to you say such a thing. We exist, we are beings who live and breathe! I've been told since the day I joined Organization XIII that we are just shells that shouldn't exist, shunned by the light and the darkness. Maybe that's true, maybe we no longer belong to either the light or the dark. But I have always refused to accept that I am meaningless. I am incomplete, but never meaningless. I am standing here right now; I have a body, a mind, and now a purpose, just as you do. We EXIST, and we can't regret what we are!"

Larxene's wide startled eyes sparkled with tears that threatened to fall. All this time she'd been around the musician he always seemed like such a dolt. He couldn't stand up for himself, could hardly fight unless pushed to the edge, and for Kingdom Hearts sake he couldn't even find his way to the bathroom at night. But suddenly...suddenly he was speaking words she never would have dreamed could come from him. Such thoughts he was now voicing, words that she needed to hear for so long.

Her voice cracked as she tried to speak. "Demyx..." But nothing came after that.

Demyx fidgeted, scratching the back of his head as he fiddled with the hem of his black tanktop with his other hand. "Well... I mean... I always liked you just the way you are, even if you do hit me with stuff and chase me out of your room when I'm lost... and well...so... I don't want to hear you say stuff like that... I don't want to be just an unwanted dream... or something..."

"Great jumping Jehoshaphat, it's like watching a very cheesy high school romance anime, isn't it?" Zexion was now sitting up on his elbows; fully awake, watching the scene unfolding before them.

Roxas nodded stupidly for a moment, before realizing who had spoken. "Zexion? Are you all right?"

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Well... life bites, the world stinks, and everyone I work with is stupid. Always telling ME what to do but NEVER listening to what I have to say about ANYTHING... and the only ones that understand me are my pet Heartless and that Yahoo over there talking sense into the chick... Yeah, I'm peachy... all is right with the world."

Roxas just stared at the usually calm and collected Nobody he had actually come to respect, despite how much Axel disliked him. This sarcastic tone, a bitter sort of underlying hatred for everything was just so... so...

"Emo..." the word rang out in the room, three voices in unison like a short song.

"I AM NOT EMO!! How many times do I have to say that I AM NOT!! Yes, I listen to emo music. Yes, I taught that Heartless the lyrics to AFI. And yeah, my hair looks it; but I AM NOT EMO!! I just...have emotional issues to work out right now..." Zexion fumed, anger suddenly swelling up inside him. The feeling was almost unbearable, and that's when it suddenly struck him. He felt so off suddenly, and he had said 'emotions'. "What happened? I feel weird..."

"A false awakening..." A familiar voice called from the doorway, bringing all eyes to the two shadows looming just outside the door.

Vexen stepped inside, a sigh escaping him as he rubbed his forehead. "Just as I feared... The Essence has been used..."

"Indeed..." Lexaeus affirmed, as he too stepped inside the room, surveying the massive damage all around his feet. "Larxene has been here..."

Demyx launched himself at the eldest member of the Organization, tackling him like a quarterback in a Blitz game. "VEXEN!! You can fix this right? You know what's going on, right!?"

"UNHAND ME, you buffoon! …Good grief..." Vexen finally managed to shake the musician off of himself, leaving the Melodious Nocturne in a crumpled mess of watering eyes and whimpers on the floor.

"I had my suspicions that this was going to happen when I saw the elixir had disappeared from my lab not too long after the Superior had been bitten." Vexen sighed, "And here I was hoping that Zexion would be able to help me with the Superior. So much for that; your awakened emotions make you pretty well close to useless to me now."

"Excuse me?" Zexion snarled.

"Of all the people to have used it on... Now we're going to have to put up with our whiney little martyr again..." Vexen grunted as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the Schemer.

Zexion stood up; calmly dusting himself off as he slowly shortened the distance between himself and the Chilly Academic. They stood eyeing each other for a moment, seeming to size one another up.

"So now what, ol' man? You're going to say I'm emo, too?" Zexion asked quietly, nothing in his voice could give away his true thoughts; his words were harsh but he seemed to be the unemotional Zexion once again. "If I recall correctly, I am not the one who was constantly whining to Master Xehanort about every little wrong thing they perceived was done to them..."

"At least I wasn't blasting those screeching monkey calls every day and passing it off as music... or doing useless experiments like teaching a Heartless to sing," Vexen growled.

"I only did that in my spare time! And it wasn't USELESS. If a Heartless could speak then its proof they're intelligent!" Zexion's voice wavered, teetering on the edge of annoyed and all-out losing it.

"Pointless. We didn't need to know the level of their intelligence; just what drew them to the heart of a living organism. Your work was useless... you..."

"If it weren't for me, Even, we never would have HAD that laboratory. It was MY work, MY reasoning that made Ansem decide to build it! You can't..." Vexen suddenly cut off Zexion's words as he raised a hand to silence him.

"Yes... it was you... You're the reason we're in this position. All of us, even our little sitar player here..." Vexen motioned at Demyx still sitting on the floor, confused by what was happening right before his eyes. "All because you talked Ansem into letting us build that lab and continue our research..."

Zexion fell silent, words completely failing him as familiar feelings slammed into him again. Old emotions he hadn't felt in so long suddenly intensified and pounded his mind just as they had when the tainted kiss first touched his lips. It wasn't until he finally blinked that he noticed that foreign sensation, the feeling of tears running down his cheeks. Gloved hands shot up to his face, quickly brushing away the signs of his weakness.

"Even..." Zexion finally whispered; his voice cracking.

Vexen sighed, a sound almost filled with pity. But it was simply impossible for him to show such a thing. "And that is the point I was trying to make... In this state you have no control over the emotions that have suddenly re-awakened within you. They are intensified far stronger than they ever were before; ruling your mind so you can't think straight. The guilt, anger, and fear of that day still haunts you and because of that elixir you can't fight it."

A swift boot suddenly connected with Vexen's shin, doubling him over from the stinging sensation radiating up his leg. "JERK! NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME!! I HATE YOU PEOPLE, GAH!!..." Zexion snarled as he stomped out the room.

Vexen bounced on one foot for a few seconds, tears stinging his eyes as he held his throbbing shin. "That little punk... RESPECT! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR!?"

"You deserved that one..." Lexaeus commented.

"Cha! That was mean, Vexen..." Demyx grunted, as he scrambled to his feet. "Maybe I better go make sure you didn't do any permanent mental damage."

"What?! What about me?! I'm the one with the soon-to-be bruised shin!" Vexen squawked. "Nobody respects their elders around here, I swear... little emo shin-kicker…"

"Well maybe if you'd actually show a little respect for others, perhaps you'd be respected as well," Larxene snorted.

Vexen's look of annoyance melted into confusion for a second, then to worry. "Her, too? Roxas, how many have been infected?"

"I don't..." Roxas stumbled, starting to deny anything to do with the elixir.

"Don't try and lie to me, boy. I know you and that pyromaniac took the elixir from my lab. I need to know how much of the Organization has been compromised..."

"I don't know!" Roxas snapped, but then he seemed to suddenly retreat back into his own thoughts. Axel was acting so strange, but surely he wouldn't have taken the elixir! He was a rebel without a cause, but he wasn't stupid. "As far as I know only three of us, but it seems like more now..."

"Just as I feared," Vexen sighed, running his hands through his pale blonde hair. "It's unstable... I should have destroyed it when I saw what it did to those lesser Nobodies."

"Unstable?" Roxas questioned.

"Yes, the Essence of the Heart is an incomplete experiment. To call it volatile is quite the understatement, actually." Vexen sighed again, folding his hands behind his back and pacing around the room. "You see, I ran tests on it with lesser Nobodies – one from each of our classes."

"Classes?" Demyx pondered aloud.

"Yes, Demyx, classes... or have you not noticed that you control all Dancer Nobodies?" Vexen sneered at the Melodious Nocturne.

"I thought they just liked my music..." The musician chuckled and then quickly fell silent again under the intense glare from the scientist. "Shutting up."

"Zexion said that the lesser Nobodies went insane or ceased to exist," Roxas interrupted. "Will the elixir... do the same to one of our level?"

"Well, actually what happened was... rather unexplainable. Some acted insane, running in circles, curling up into a ball off in the corner making odd sniffling noises, or throwing themselves against the wall. They displayed what I could only describe as intensified emotions and then just snapped." Vexen shrugged.

"What about the other ones?" Larxene gasped. "Did they...did they... die?"

"Larxene..." Demyx whispered.

"We Nobodies do not 'die,' silly woman; we become nothing instead of Nobody." Vexen snorted irritably.

"They disappeared. All I figured was that the stronger Nobodies were the ones that simply went insane. The flood of emotion completely burning out whatever scrap of a mind they had and turning them into untamable creatures."

"Then what about us?! What about Zexion, Marluxia, and..." Roxas paused glancing at Larxene. She seemed stricken, fear shining in her eyes as she listened in silence.

"I'm getting to that child. If you'd shut up for a moment, I'll continue..." Vexen barked at the small Nobody for interrupting his monolog. "While I was running the experiments I noticed something very disturbing in myself. Minor setbacks at first, but as I continued to experiment on my specimens I found my mind being muddied by old memories and the emotions that were tied to them. I kept dwelling on the emotions... I couldn't understand why they were surfacing at such a time. That is until I noticed some of the Nobodies that I HADN'T experimented on beginning to exhibit the same characteristics as the ones that had been used."

Vexen paused, seeming to focus on one of Zexion's books. He ran his fingers over the black cover lightly, tracing the first white title word on the simple journal – 'DEATH'. He seemed to retreat into mind at that, lost in thoughts of the small Nobodies that had disappeared mysteriously after they were subjected to the elixir. His silence was only tolerated for a moment though, Roxas finally snapped at him again urging him to continue.

"AND?! What happened? What was it?"

"The Elixir, the Essence of the Heart, is just that... Like a heart, it is unstable. Unpredictable. Its contents are in a constant state of flux, and over time its stabilities break down, affecting those around it without a heart. In other words...Nobodies that even come within range of the flask will slowly become infected by its power. Time is making the elixir stronger and more potent; I had hidden it to destroy it the next day. But... then it disappeared." Vexen growled at that last part, eyeing the small Nobody accusingly.

"So what will happen to them!?" Larxene cried, latching onto Vexen sleeve suddenly. "Is Marluxia going to die?! What will happen!! You have a cure right?! You CAN'T LET THEM DIE!!"

"Ugh... Your emotional self is very draining... I told you before; Nobodies do not exist, so therefore we do not die..." Vexen grimaced as he tried to free his captive arm.

"You were affected by it, right? So you do have a cure like Larxene said, right?" Roxas interrupted again, hopeful for a happy ending to this whole mess he and Axel had thrown themselves blindly into.

"It was merely a side effect of being in close contact with the elixir and those infected by it. Once I was away from the substance I no longer experienced symptoms. As far as I was able to conclude, the elixir has temporary effects upon those around it; right at first. However, its potency is getting stronger as time goes by so who knows what could happen. And then there's being injected with the substance, or ingesting it. They cause more lasting effects, none of which ended well. I wanted to continue the study but felt I could not risk my being in the process, and thus labeled the potion as dangerous. I did not bother finding a 'cure,' as you put it."

Larxene crumbled, like a fragile stack of Luxords's cards. "Marluxia... Zexion..." She flinched suddenly. "What about Demyx?! He's been with us this whole time?! Are we infecting him? Is it going to..."

Demyx flinched. "Larxene, don't worry about it. I'm fine; I don't feel any different from when I woke up this morning."

Roxas thought back on that morning, when they had collected Demyx and the elixir. _'But he's been exposed to it far longer than any of us. He had nightmares...' _

"It did give me nightmares all week though... But other than that, nothing..." Demyx scratched his head, voicing Roxas' concern.

"What?" Vexen twitched, spinning around to face Lexaeus. "I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED HIS ROOM! It's always the three of them... I always forget that little twit."

"He's so innocent..." the Silent Hero muttered under his breath.

"That doesn't make sense... Demyx hasn't shown any sort of symptoms and he's been around it for so long... but Axel is already acting odd. Why wouldn't Demyx be showing any signs?" Roxas pondered aloud.

"Who could tell..." Lexaeus snorted in reference to Demyx showing the symptoms. "He has a kind heart."

"Had... He **had** a kind heart." Vexen rubbed his chin for a moment, "There are possibilities that I had not looked into concerning the Elixir. I had a theory that it simply mimicked the lost heart, giving a Nobody the capability to feel true emotion again. But that it does not restore the heart. How can one have true feelings without the heart? Perhaps it may resonate with the heart that was lost. Calling to it and thus creating a connection between Heartless and Nobody, which will begin to rebuild the being that once was. Or it could even just be some form of emotional catalyst, flooding the mind with useless sensory data until driven mad..."

"But what does that MEAN?! What IS it?!" Roxas finally blurted, getting frustrated with all this guess work that was being thrown out in the open. "It starting to sound like you don't even know what your own bull is! You're freaking Larxene out and you don't even KNOW. Maybe it's fine! Maybe nothing will happen to any of us! Maybe all those Nobodies you say disappeared just wandered off?! SHOW ME PROOF! You're scientists right? You're supposed to back up your statements with proof!"

Vexen and Lexaeus just stood silently, a strange sort of sly smile slithered across the Academic's lips. The realization suddenly struck the youngest Nobody; he was correct. They hadn't a clue what the elixir could truly do. It was simply a dangerous substance that unlocked emotions. How, why, and to what end... simply couldn't be answered.

"Larxene, Demyx! Get up, we're going to go find them and get rid of that thing before anyone else gets near it!" Roxas snatched Larxene by the coat, pulling her to her feet and leading her out the door.

"It's already too late..." Vexen sighed as they slipped out the door. "All we can do now is sit back and take notes on what happens to them. And perhaps hope that a stronger Nobody can overcome a direct dosage. Whatever the case, this will be interesting data for my replica project. Maybe I won't need a REAL heart for them."

Roxas ignored the scientist; he refused to allow himself to think that he was going to lose his two best friends; or any of the others for that matter. He couldn't let anything happen to them, he'd fight this any way he knew how. He cared too much about them to lose them to something as silly as this.

Track 6 End: Sympathy for the Martyr

* * *

_And I think I just shocked my own pants off with that chapter… _

_Vexen seems clueless to the true potential of the elixir; and he seems not to even care beyond using their misfortune as research fodder. It seems the only thing that can be done is to destroy the elixir and simply hope that those tainted by its strange powers can heal. But that's all easier said than done… Axel still carries it… Marluxia is missing… Who knows what other members of the Organization will still fall victim._

_There is a dark room ahead, cast in silver moonlight… and a dark figure waits for his role in this tale..._

Continued in Track 7: Can't Fight the Moonlight


	7. Behind Blue Eyes

**Author's Notes: **fell behind again, didn't I.. but at least you can keep up to date on DA. The reading isn't as user friendly as it is here though. That's for sure. I want to thank you all for being patient and for the lovely reviews! -hugs-

**Thank you Darkblade for being such a great Beta reader for me!**

Today's track is "Behind Blue Eyes" which has been covered by quite a few groups actually... so you have your pick. I think they're all good. Just youtube/google it and you'll find the song. Originally it was done by "The Who" but I found I even like Limp Bizkit's version (which is saying a lot since I really don't like them) I even have a techno-remix of this song... but for the track the slow version is the best.

* * *

Dyme and the Dozen

**Track 7: Behind Blue Eyes**

The terrible spinning sensation just wouldn't stop its relentless attack on the senses. There was a sickening scent that lingered in the air, bringing back strange and unusual fragments of memories from days so long past that the dreamer began to wonder if it was someone else's thoughts he was now recalling. Times that seemed so distant, when he'd been stuck in bed as a little tiny child, not allowed to get up and leave the confines of his blankets for fear that going out into cold air would worsen his illness. Strange, forgotten memories of pains he had to bear. They lingered for just a moment then faded into a misty fog, only to be replaced by horrid nightmares about horrible little creatures and strange plastic objects that resembled bears.

The stale air hanging in the quiet still room made it too suffocating to be in there another moment. Anything would be better than this stifling prison haunted by unorganized memory fragments and strange dreams of a very large plastic bear beating him into the ground like a nail under the force of a hammer.

_What was with the bear?_

There was a slow movement from under the covers as the figure that was once prone under a mass of tangled sheets and blankets rolled over and slowly sat up. He carefully swung his feet over the side of the bed, grasping the metal decor of the headboard to keep himself from spilling off the mattress completely. He quickly raised his other hand to his face, covering his eyes and consciously trying to steady his breathing, to keep the overwhelming motion sickness from taking over again and bringing him abruptly to his knees. His only thoughts now were on how he just wanted to get outside; if he could get away from this horrible room just for a minute, maybe he could feel better.

Fresh air and the busy noise of life, as well as something other than white all around him; that's all he wanted. To know he wasn't alone and to be able to breathe. That was it. Not so much to ask for, was it?

Staggering steps brought him closer to the door; he leaned heavily on the doorframe, glancing behind him at the short distance he had come. Everything looked so unfamiliar to him right now. He had this strange tickling, nagging feeling that he should know this place well. But his mind just felt so cluttered with useless things at the moment he couldn't put a finger on where he was at all. A sigh escaped his lips as he caught a few wisps of the long silver hair up between his fingers as it fell over his face. He was about to sweep them back behind his ear when he stopped and stared at the strands for a moment. A look of confusion flashed across his face as he carefully gave one lock a tug.

"OW! Okay... mine... of course it's mine..."

His own voice sounded foreign to him as he spoke to himself, his words slurring slightly as though he had just woken up and his mind still couldn't pull from a dream. Or perhaps they sounded more like they were the slurred mutterings of a drunken man? Either way he looked and sounded like a mess. He continued what he had been about to do, tucking the flyaway locks of hair behind his ear before he reached for the door and slowly cracked it open.

The hall was just as quiet as the room, and just as blinding white, if not more so.

He let out a strangled groan as he slowly inched out into the hall, noting how cold the  
marble felt against his feet. It was then he noticed he even had feet, bare feet at that. He leaned over eyeing them suspiciously.

"Those're mine, too... yessss..." He murmured as he studied his wiggling toes, making sure that they were in fact his own feet.

He unconsciously leaned further over; his eyes traveling up his black pants until he came to the hem of his white tank top. However, by that time he was leaning so far over he just toppled bum over kettle out the door. He laid there in a heap for a moment, a strange chuckle erupting out of him after a moment had passed. He gripped the fabric of his shirt, pulling it up and then letting it fall back into place. "I'm wearing a wife beater... hee, hee. Get in thar an' make me a sammich, woman! Hee, hee."

He continued to chuckle over absolutely nothing as he staggered to his feet using the wall as a support. Slowly he took a few steps, his hand remaining on the wall to keep from falling over again. The area spun relentlessly, aggravating the queasy feeling in his gut. Yet he continued to carefully push on, making his way down the hall to some unknown destination.

The strange almost giddy chuckling that echoed in the stillness of the long corridor shifted to that of a sadder tone as he continued on.

"Where am I...? Where are you...?"

The laughter turned to tears as Xemnas wondered off alone.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

Saïx's body tensed suddenly, shoulders stiff as a strange sort of chill swept through him, piercing into his bones as he sat at a small table near the large panes of glass that lined the entire side wall of his room. The cup of hot Earl Grey tea that was just about to touch his lips slipped away as he abruptly clanked it down to the table, sloshing its contents over the lip of the cup and onto his hand.

A short hiss of pain erupted from his throat, breaking the silence as he shook the liquid from his hand and struggled to get his burning glove off. All the while he continued to glance around the room. His gaze settled on the cup, its contents still shifting slightly from the sudden movement, a blurred rippling reflection of a glowing heart greeting him.

Slowly his gaze shifted up towards the heart-shaped moon that continued to caress him with its pale glowing touch, bidding him to forget the disturbance and simply continue to bask in its soft light. Silence filled the room as he faltered in his seat; whatever it was that had yanked him from his reverie was now fading just as quickly as his dissipating tension.

It had been a noise of some sort; faint to the point of silence, yet his ears had picked it up. It was a strangely familiar sound that he slowly began to recognize as he pondered it. One he was well used to by now, but not in a place like this. Not during tea time, and certainly not so close to his sanctuary.

Saïx shook his head slowly, as though he was physically shaking away the remnants of whatever uneasiness was left. He was just about to pick up his tea cup again when he heard the faint noise yet again. This time he knew what it was, he was finally able to confirm what his mind had been trying to tell him was not possible.

The faint sound of tears in the darkness, crying in the solitude of nothingness, choked cries to nobody for a pain that shattered hearts.

Yes, Saïx had heard this sound many times. Reveled in it as he watched many fall to shadows in the night, their hearts taking the forms of darkness and then being destroyed to feed Kingdom Hearts. He would smile amidst the sadness, knowing that for each heart taken, each Heartless slain, he was that much closer to finding his own. He was one heart closer to getting back his life once lost.

However, the sound that he usually found almost thrilling while he worked felt eerie in his place of refuge. It bothered him on some deep level, startling him enough to pull him from his seat basking in the glow of welcoming moonlight and on towards the entry of his spacious room.

The sounds were faint, yet he knew if they were reaching him they had to be coming from Proof of Existence. Due to the way his door was actually a portal, sound wouldn't carry from other parts of the castle. It was one of many reasons he had chosen that room, he could blast his neo classical trance music without anyone raising eyebrows at him. It was secluded from the others, steeped in moonlight, and spacious. His own little world. The only way a sound of any kind, especially one so soft, could have reached him was if it was coming directly from the other side of his portal from that dreaded room. It was the only way to physically get to his chambers without the aid of a darkness portal and few cared to pass it.

Saïx stood before the portal doorway, eyeing it suspiciously, watching the dark colors swirling within the symbol of their kind. For a moment he began to think the sound had only been his imagination stirred up by his earlier mission, for there was nothing but silence greeting him at his door. His tea and the soft moonlight tried to pull him back but curiosity still tugged at his mind, rooting him in place.

"It's just Demyx..." he finally groaned, trying to talk himself into obeying the beckoning call of the moon.

Yet he still didn't make a move until he heard the crying break the silence once more. A strange instinct made him hesitate from entering the portal for just a brief moment as the air shifted, a shadow swirled, and moonlight seemed to intensify near his hand until his Claymore suddenly appeared in his grip. He clutched the weapon and carefully stepped through the portal, instantly emerging into the stale, suffocating air of "Existence."

The first thing that caught his attention among the rows of portals and tablets signifying the Organization members' "lives" was a figure in a pale colored dress shirt sitting hunched over, nearly curled into a ball. Hands resting over his forehead, fingers firmly threaded through the long cherry colored hair that hung over his face and shoulders.

'_Marluxia?' _

This revelation was startling. He had honestly expected Demyx to be sniffling outside his doorway, hesitating to enter. Not this...

But this surely was Marluxia, no question about that.

Anyone knew the man by his hair alone; it was easy to pick out Marluxia in a crowd of people wearing the same dark, hooded cloaks by the locks of hair that would fall just below the line of his hood. His hair was almost pink in the daylight, a natural sort of pink, but still pink. This was something that Saïx couldn't help but ponder; he wondered what this man's Somebody looked like. Did that man also have pink hair, perhaps a more vibrant shade of such a feminine color? Did he get beat up when he was a child because of it? Was that the reason Marluxia was able to lure people into this false sense of security with his strangely beautiful looks and soft voice only to have them kissing pavement in a matter of moments due to his unexpected prowess and strength in fighting?

Like a siren luring humans to their doom. Or better fitting, the "Man Named Sue."

Saïx couldn't help but smile at the memory that suddenly flooded his mind. The first time Marluxia had been introduced to the organization, Xigbar had called the newbie by a woman's name, something befitting a female porn-star, as well as making snide remarks about his hair and the strange way petals seemed to sprinkle the ground when he walked. It was a joke of course, but that didn't stop Marluxia from laying the guy out flat with a well placed right hook. It took three men to pull him off the unconscious Xigbar. Marluxia had struck quickly and precisely with a strength that seemed unimaginable, yet his movements had a strange sort of fluid and grace that almost appeared like a dance. Saïx even recalled there had been a shower of pink cherry blossoms and what sounded like the gentle sound of wind chimes that accompanied the cracking sound of fist connecting with jaw. It was no wonder Xemnas named him "Graceful Assassin," for that name summed up Marluxia perfectly.

Marluxia was a deceptively strong, calm, and calculating man beneath an unearthly beautiful exterior. Just like the flowers he adored so much, he was a rose with poison-tipped thorns.

But this current display unfolding in the silence of this cryptic room was so unlike the man Saïx knew.

He wasn't exactly a totally serious, unemotional rock like some Nobodies. It was true that Number Eleven was frightening and truly emotionless like a Nobody should be, but he was often seen playing around and joking with Larxene and Demyx. He'd play up to that foppish air expected of him because of his powers and looks, leaving cherry petals in his wake and over using poetry-like lines and exaggerated hand gestures. He'd even seem to lose his cool with Axel and Roxas, but he never let any sort of weakness show...

Not like this.

Even from his perspective from the doorway, Saïx could see that the man was clenching his teeth, muttering a silent cry as he rocked slowly in this strange sitting position. Strangled gasps erupted from him from time to time as he desperately fought back tears. A losing battle from the looks of things.

Saïx faltered, suddenly aware that he was staring at something that should not be seen. The Luna Diviner was eavesdropping on someone who was completely unaware of his surroundings. It would only be a few moments before Marluxia would notice his presence and either disappear or lash out with pent up fury fueled by the embarrassment of being caught in such a vulnerable state.

Turning without making a sound, Saïx reached out to the portal to step back through it.

"I... I... don't... want it..."

The words were broken, falling between gasps of agony. Marluxia's voice indeed sounded like the voice Saïx had heard so many times before, but this time it dripped with such pain. It was shocking enough to halt him from stepping through the portal entry. He almost felt his pointed ears twitch as he continued to listen.

"If it hurts this much... I don't want it back... I don't want to feel."

'_Feelings? Want what back?'_ Saïx couldn't back away now, his interest piqued to the point that he no longer cared about self-preservation. He had to find out more, be it at the risk of his own well being; he just had to know.

Saïx cleared his throat, an almost unusual sort of nervous action coming from the Berserker, before he finally called out to the distressed man. "Marluxia..."

The movement was swift; much to be expected from the Graceful Assassin, but it was far from graceful looking. It was more like the reaction a startled cat has, leaping almost clear across the room like something kicked it in square in the middle of its backside. His landing wasn't too graceful either as he practically skidded right into the wall.

Saïx watched, wondering if the man would just get his bearings and bolt or if the embarrassment showing visibly on pink tinged cheeks fuel him to fury. He gripped his Claymore tighter, instincts kicking in to ready him... just in case.

It didn't take long for the Luna Diviner to receive his answer. Marluxia started for the stairs, his hand frantically brushing away the remnants of tears that had stained his face just moments before. However, he halted in the doorway, tensing his shoulders as he stood for a few moments.

"I knew you could be cruel, but I didn't know you were a sick bugger. What kind of man stands around staring at someone, when he goes out of his way to be alone?" Marluxia shot a death glare over his shoulder at the tall man still standing in the same spot he had been for some time now. He looked furious under those layers of cherry colored locks, but there was still the evidence of weakness in the dark lines under his eyes and the glistening of unshed tears. "It takes a real sick monkey to gloat over someone's pain..."

"What can I say? It's my job." Saïx's cold, unfeeling expression didn't change, the deep sound of his voice unwavering even despite the slight humor to his words. "But it's not like I have sadistic tendencies that brought me here, I could hear you blubbering all the way in there." He nodded back towards his portal.

"I WAS NOT... blubbering..." Marluxia snapped, faltering over his words as he looked away.

"I believe there's plenty of proof to show otherwise. Denial at this point is useless, but I must say I'm curious to know why..."

"It's none of your business..." Marluxia grunted.

Saïx let out a long sigh, "Well that's true but that wasn't what I was asking. To be precise, I was asking _why_ a being with no heart would display something so... emotional? Or I should say something so _intensely_ emotional."

The Graceful Assassin simply stared at the ground between his feet. His demeanor shifted rapidly as the anger seemed to melt into something Saïx hadn't recalled seeing before. At least, not something he'd ever seen in Marluxia or any other Nobody, for that matter.

A strange sort of hiccup or strangled gurgle erupted from the strangely acting Nobody as Saïx stood watching. "It's not fair..."

An eyebrow rose slowly, Saïx tilted his head while expecting to see Marluxia quickly retreating out of the room after such an unusual muttering but instead the Graceful Assassin turned slowly. His head was still lowered, face shadowed by layers of cherry colored hair, completely hiding his expression from view. It was a reaction that was entirely unexpected, but not quite as unexpected as Marluxia's next move after that.

Without any warning at all Marluxia had crossed the room, suddenly coming to a stop just mere inches away from the taller and rather threatening looking Nobody before planting his forehead against Saïx's chest.

"I need a hug..." Marluxia sniffled, the tears from moments ago threatening to fall once again.

The Luna Diviner was speechless. His Claymore slipped from his grasp and clanked to the floor next to his feet as he stared wide-eyed at the top of Marluxia's head. In all his time being a Nobody nothing like this had ever happened. Nobody, Heartless, human; not a single living creature with any sort of a brain in their heads dared to come within a ten foot radius of him for fear of getting their heads ripped from their shoulders in a fit of berserker fury. Sure, he seemed calm and level headed, but EVERYONE knew he could snap at any given second. Even Demyx wouldn't ever try something like this.

"Um...er... M..Marluxia...?" Saïx tried for a moment to think of something to say, to do, anything to get him out of this ever increasingly uncomfortable situation he was currently in. "Personal... space... Marluxia..."

Saïx tried to back up, but found that the Assassin had already tightened his grip on his black cloak. "Marluxia... calm down... let's just step back, get a little space and figure out what's wrong here... and get a little space..."

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG! Is it me? Why? Why not me? Why HIM! That short... emo... BRAT!" Marluxia cried hysterically, still refusing to let the Berserker go.

"Mar.."

The name didn't even get a chance to fall from his lips before Marluxia pushed away from him and stomped away.

"And why does everyone INSIST on calling me that? I'm LARUMIA! What is so hard about calling someone by their REAL name? What? Just because I joined this stupid group I have to leave behind everything that is me?" Marluxia finally paused his ranting and violent stomping about the room.

A deafening silence filled the room for a moment as Saïx suspiciously eyed the now still Nobody, watching the anger melt away just as suddenly as it had come upon him. Still watching as Marluxia wrapped his arms around himself and sunk down to the ground, resuming the same almost fetal-like position Saïx had found him in.

"Why didn't I see it sooner? Why didn't I say something? Why did I wait so long...? I waited so long that... that..." His voice trailed off as Marluxia resumed where he had left off before Saïx had interrupted him. "Why doesn't she love me?"

'_Love? And hate... regret... remorse... Feelings... not just feelings, very intense feelings.'_

Saïx just stood silently as he pondered everything that had just happened. He could feel the bewildered look on his face, it almost burned to hold but he couldn't stop it. He wanted to shake it away but he just couldn't. An eyebrow slowly rose, his jaw slackened slightly and froze in that bewildered look. He couldn't get past the emotional display; it was so completely unlike Marluxia, so very unexpected of any sort of Nobody for that matter.

And yet something seemed altogether strangely familiar about the whole scene. He'd seen someone act like this to some extent. Yes, they all faked emotions; every Nobody seemed to remember what it was like to have a heart. So they faked the emotions expected of a living, self-aware being, either to fool those around them or perhaps sometimes to fool themselves. Either way, they all displayed these little acts. But this just seemed over the top; surely Marluxia wasn't complete again, so it was impossible for him to be "feeling" anything. It all reminded Saïx of something very close to him, something he saw every day.

A quick image danced across his mind, he'd even swear he heard it giggle as it came and went. Strangely he was suddenly broken from his trance-like state at the horror he had just been forcing through. Saïx let out an exasperated sigh as he slowly sauntered over towards the Graceful Assassin and plunked down next to him on the edge of a step down to the next level of the floor.

Marluxia felt the warmth of a body sitting closer to him by the strange way the air shifted from the movement. He slowly lifted his head from his knees, glancing to the side just to confirm what he wasn't quite sure he could believe.

"Marluxia..." there was a pause for a moment, "or Larumia... whatever." Saïx pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, not entirely sure how to go about saying what he felt needed to be said. "I never would have imagined that I would have this discussion with the likes of you. I keep to myself and get my job done; I don't bother myself with the problems of others. But there are some times when I must intervene for the greater good of the Organization..."

Marluxia was now sitting up, eyeing the Luna Diviner suspiciously, not quite sure where this sudden monologue had come from. He watched as Saïx faltered again, sighing heavily.

"All this talk of love... and feelings... and..."

"Oh my word… You aren't trying to give me the birds and the bees talk, are you?" Marluxia gaped like a fish out of water.

The hair on the back of Saïx's neck bristled like he was about to go into berserk mode. "For the love of Sailor Moon, **NO!** What in the world is wrong with you?"

A sudden chuckle erupted from Marluxia, despite the accusation of being not entirely together at the moment.

Saïx growled before he continued, what little patience he had with the situation was beginning to wear extremely thin. "I have had my suspicions about him, but I never would have thought you'd get messed up in something like that as well."

Marluxia tilted his head slightly, questioning Saïx without saying anything at all. That simple motion, even the innocent bewildered look on his face, forced yet another groan from the Berserker. It was just reminding him too much of the little blonde sitar player.

"You got into Demyx's stash of drugs, didn't you?"

There was a bitter sort of silence that followed that question as the two Nobodies stared at each other. Marluxia finally blinked, closing his eyes tight for a moment, wondering if that was really Saïx sitting next to him. Maybe if he just concentrated this hallucination would disappear.

"What have you been _smoking?"_

"WHAT!" Marluxia spat when he realized his accuser was still there and not a figment of his imagination.

"I have a strong suspicion that boy is smoking something... I mean just look at him, he's like some sort of happy little freak of nature bouncing around the place playing a sitar like it's an electric guitar. He gets into things he knows will kill him, and for crying out loud, just last week he thought his sitar was possessed. I mean I know it was just Axel being his usual annoying self but, please, nobody is that gullible unless they're 'dancing with Mary Jane.' He must be smoking something...you got into it too, didn't you?" Saïx's voice seemed to rise to a strange higher pitch as he ranted at the horror stricken Assassin.

"I would NEVER! I AM NOT THAT STUPID!" Marluxia snorted, turning his head violently away for a moment before a gasp escaped his lips, the sort of sudden sound someone expels when they remember something of importance. "Wait..."

Saïx waited for the confession he was sure was coming, finally proof that Demyx did have a stash of something. However the next words from Marluxia were not quite what he had expected.

"Wait... wait, wait... I'm not entirely sure what happened, but something unusual did happen earlier." Marluxia rubbed his forehead as though that would make him remember better. "It's still fuzzy; my whole day has been fuzzy... I just don't feel... right."

"Drugs will do that to you..." Saix stated with disgust.

"I DIDN'T SMOKE ANYTHING..."Marluxia spat, "now shut up, I'm trying to think... er please shut up..."

Silence began to take over again as Saïx sat quietly watching as Marluxia glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. It was a brief silence before Marluxia finally seemed to gather his thoughts. "Axel and Roxas were up to something. Demyx freaked out and has been doting on me like some freakish mother hen all morning. Now that I think about it... I haven't felt right since I ran into them this morning. I feel things... things I can't control. I noticed so many things about her that struck me differently."

"What, exactly, did you do this morning?" Saïx questioned, his voice returning to the calm, low tone he usually had.

There was a moment while Marluxia sat, eyes closed as he tried to speak. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. His usually beautiful face began to twist further in agony, yet Saïx quickly put a screeching halt to the coming onslaught of "lost love" ranting.

"Forget about Larxene for a moment. I want you to think back on this morning and tell me what happened. What happened when they met you?"

There was another heavy silence in the room before Marluxia's soft voice broke it. "I came out of my garden and found the three of them in my room. Axel, Roxas, and Demyx. Demyx seemed on edge, Axel was nosing around, and Roxas seemed entirely too innocent. I told them to leave. Axel mouthed off. I got angry... seriously angry... and then passed out. After that Demyx was buzzing around me in a panic, acting guilty about something."

"Demyx never has been good at keeping things to himself. He was most likely in on whatever they were up to and couldn't handle it because he likes you." Saïx sighed and leaned back slightly, stealing a glance at the direction of Axel's tablet. "Did Axel come near you? Do anything suspicious? Or perhaps did you eat or drink something?"

"Axel was rummaging through my underwear drawer like the pervert he is."

Both Nobodies raised an eyebrow at that statement as Marluxia continued. "Wait, I did drink something... I had a water bottle with me. Ah! And now that I really think about it, Demyx got a stricken sort of look on his face when I did."

Saïx stood up suddenly, startling Marluxia with the sudden movement. "That's it then."

'What's it?" Marluxia scrambled to his feet after the retreating form. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go find out what they've gotten into this time. Before they do something to everyone," Saix growled.

"Ah... so you think they slipped me a Mickey? I suppose that's possible, Roxas did have my water for a moment." Marluxia rambled as he struggled to keep up with the fast gait of Saïx's steps. He slowed for a second, a look crossing his face as though he was pondering the very essence of the world. "Slipped me a Mickey... say, why do they call it that? Why don't they say 'slipped you a Donald?'"

Saïx suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, nearly making Marluxia slam into the back of him. He turned, looking over his shoulder at the wide-eyed look being shot up at him. "Dem... er, Marluxia..."

Marluxia blinked owlishly. "Yes...?"

"Shut. Up."

The Graceful Assassin was sure he had caught the faint glint of a fang under the curled lip snarling at him, sending a chill of fear down his spine. "Shutting up…" he murmured sheepishly as they resumed their trek to find Axel.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

Little did the two Nobodies now searching for him know, Axel was already standing before a large door, a strangely sad look in his eyes as he stared at the small space between his fingers upon the smooth white surface. A gentle push and the massive door creaked open...

~End Track 7: Behind Blue Eyes

_Axel stands before a white door... Why did he find himself gravitating to this place? Who could this possibly be standing on the other side? Will they be the next to fall, or will they be the first to take action against these strange events? What of Roxas and the others?_

Perhaps these questions really don't matter... After all... the lives of all are fragile and unpredictable, like a teetering house of _**cards**__... _

**Continued in: Track 8: "Winner Takes it All"**


	8. The Winner Takes it All

**Author's Notes: **Thank you Darkblade for being such a great Beta Reader! XD I seriously don't know what I'd do without you ^_^ And thank you to everyone who leaves a review! It's always nice to hear what you think of the story! Thank you!

Today's song is "The Winner Takes it All" by Abba... not that the lyrics really mean that much... it just fit Luxord for some reason.

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Dyme and the Dozen Track 8:  
_The Winner Takes It All_

Axel stared at the doorway; or rather it seemed he was staring right through the door. His emerald eyes seemed clouded, hazy as though he were lost in thought. His hand rested on the massive entry, yet he didn't put any more force behind it to open it further than just that tiny crack. He simply stood in silence as though someone had cast stop on him.

"Something's bothering you..."

Axel flinched. His fingers flexing on the door for a moment before resting his palm flat on the pristine white surface once again.

"...But why would _you_ come here?"

There was a moment of silence that was only broken by the faint sound of his breathing resuming. He leaned closer to the door until his forehead connected with the cool surface. "I don't know..." he finally whispered in an awkward and unsure tone.

A small giggle erupted from behind the doorway. "You're picking up some of his strange habits. It's kinda cute... the way you two affect each other..."

Leaning back away from the door, Axel tilted his head slightly with a slight smile playing across his lips. He was waiting for the small voice to say something else. When he didn't receive anything further he slowly allowed his palm to slide down the door as he lowered his hand.

"It's ok…" the small voice finally whispered. "…If you just want to stand there. I don't mind."

"Why would I do that?" Axel questioned the unseen one behind the entry.

"Sometimes it helps, just knowing there's someone there to listen to you breathe..."

"Axel? What on earth are you doing over there? You know perfectly well that the Superior doesn't want anyone prying around there." A new voice with a slight British accent cut into the soft words coming from the closed doorway, silencing them instantly.

Axel's shoulders twitched almost violently as he snapped his attention on the intruder that had turned the corner of the hallway. He let out a breath that he hadn't even been aware he was holding when it finally registered in his mind that the cloaked figure approaching him was Luxord.  
"I wasn't snooping around. I'm just bored out of my mind... and happened by here." he lied.  
Luxord stopped next to the door glancing between it and Axel, "Eavesdropping on a girl... you pervert."

"I was not eavesdropping on her!" Axel snorted, "I just happened to be passing by..."

"Me thinks he doth protest too much... I saw the way you jerked when I walked up. Well if you're so dreadfully bored that you'd stoop to such a piteous form of entertainment, then perhaps you'd fancy something a little more worthwhile?" Luxord grinned a Cheshire Cat sort of grin if ever Axel had seen one, a strange sort of twinkle also flashed in his eyes as he spoke.

Axel stared at Gambler of Fate for a moment with a look of utter disinterest before pointing at him accusingly, "I think not, you cheat."

"Cheeky monkey! I do not!" Luxord gasped, but the anger that should have been there at such an insult was not present in his voice at all; rather he chuckled as he continued, "I leave everything to chance! Just because your horrid luck with cards leaves you sitting in your knickers three fourths of the time is no fault of mine."

"I hate you," Axel growled. "I will never play poker with you or Xigbar ever again... and why don't you just say underwear!"

"Actually, the word you're looking for would be panties..." A sly grin slipped across Luxord's face as he slipped a deck of cards from his coat sleeve and began to shuffle them. "... You girl."

"Oh that's it, bring it on! I'm going to kick your butt into next week!" Axel snarled as his two Chakrams suddenly spun into his grasp in a 'flurry of flames.'

"Oh, but why should perfect gentlemen like us bother duking it out in such a crass way, wouldn't it be much more entertaining to throw everything to chance? Let fate decide who the winner is? Hmmm?"

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Good grief your desperate... High stakes?"

"But of course! I wouldn't have it any other way." Luxord let out a short laugh as he slapped Axel's back. "Come, my good man, we'll up the ante and really lay some good munny down while praying Lady Luck blesses us with a good hand! Ha ha!"

Axel groaned as he was nearly drug from the spot in front of the door, "Ugh, I really hate poker…"

There was silence in the hallway as the two disappeared around the corner. An eerie sort of stillness weighed heavy in the air when no one was around any longer. On the other side of the door a young blonde girl stood close to the crack where the door met the frame, a large pad of paper clasped in her left hand and a crayon box in her other. She glanced over her shoulder to the window that overlooked a courtyard shrouded in shadows and moonlight.

"How strange… I fear something terrible is about to happen." She sighed as she lifted her paper up and looked at the drawing she had been working on before the strange interruption. A simple unfinished sketch of a spiky haired blonde boy with bright blue eyes looked back at her.

Slowly her gaze lifted from the paper, to the crack in the door and the glimpse of a key just beyond that crack. Her delicate fingers trembled as she reached out towards the opening and carefully pulled the door back, opening the way to the freedom that lies beyond her door.

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

There was a heavy silence in the room, the kind that seems almost unbearable for the longest time. So much so that one would wish for any sort of distraction to detract attention from the deafening quiet.

"I should have known..."

That was all it took to shatter that heavy atmosphere. A simple statement uttered by the red head sitting between two dark men seated around the table. His tone dripped with venom he didn't even attempt to hide, contempt for the ones sitting before him as well as the blonde man who had talked him into coming with those charming words of a serpent.

"Well of course the boys would be here, what kinda poker game would this be if it was only the two of us? We needed you," Luxord snorted as he shuffled the cards.

"Dude, it just wouldn't be right..." The snarky tone could only belong to Xigbar, "I mean, what's a strip poker game without Axel in his Manties...?"

A snort echoed in the room, "...Manties..." Xaldin continued to chuckle as he looked over his hand.

"I thought we were betting with Munny this time..." Axel growled; the intensity of his anger almost manifested itself in a dragon-like smoke tingeing his words. "AND DON"T BE DISGUSTING! Just because you wear them doesn't mean I would..."

"As-if..." Xigbar cast a glance above his hand of cards in the direction of the redhead, "You're attacks are weak today, Puff..."

"I've had a cruddy day, and I guess I'm just a little put off by my present company..." Axel grunted as he placed his cards back on the table, "I fold... and I'm leaving."

"Oh don't be such a chicken-wuss..." Xigbar kicked the leg of Axel's chair from under the table, jarring him slightly and forcing a bitter glare out of him but not tipping him like he had planned.

"Somebody's been hanging around Seifer..." Xaldin breathed, still focusing on his cards with a poker face like none had ever seen.

"Come now boys; let's not get nasty over a friendly game of cards... I promised him it wasn't strip poker, so ante up." Luxord tried to calm the storm that was brewing so suddenly, but failed.

"We could Slap Bet." Xaldin chuckled again, his lip twisting into a giddy smile.

For just a second Axel's eyes widened, he fought the slight curl at the corner of his mouth as he pictured back-handing Xigbar as hard as he could. It was such a beautiful image in his mind that he had to really fight giggling like a little girl.

"Pu-lease, Pyro, I'd end up slapping you silly like a pimp slappin' his ho!" It was like Xigbar was getting a perfect mental projection of the thoughts running around the Flurry's head.

"One of these days you're going to get what's coming to you Xigbar. When you least suspect it, I'm going to plant my foot so far up your butt you're going to be sucking my toes 'til the doors of Kingdom Hearts open..." Axel snarled as he stood up.

"Temper, temper, Flame-o. You're starting to worry me with your Posing..." a nervous chuckle erupted from the FreeShooter as he gave Axel a somewhat quizzical look.

"You seem unusually touchy today," Xaldin added; he had lowered his cards to study the other Nobody for a moment.

"He's just irritable because I caught him peeping at his best friend's crush," Luxord sorted.

"I WAS NOT!" Axel barked, tensing up so much one would think he'd bust a vein. "I wouldn't do something like that to Roxas; I'm evil but not that evil."

"Me thinks he doth protest too much," Luxord used his Shakespearian voice as he raised a hand to his chest almost as though he were going to quote all of Hamlet to them.

All three Nobodies began to laugh after this. "Well that explains everything. Further proof you're just a pervert!" Xigbar finally snorted.

"And to think you'd be so low as to go for your 'best friend's girl.' You really are a heartless man. Congratulations, you've proven yourself to be a true Nobody." The Whirlwind Lancer laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them.

"Cha! I was starting to wonder if you could even pull off your job as our executioner if it came right down to it. You seem a little too 'sentimental' for a Nobody, especially towards certain others..." A wicked sort of twinkle flashed in Xigbar's eye, "In fact, I wonder what you'd do if someone happened to suggest the erasure of that little squirt you keep around?" His statement was a more than just an observation.

There was a slam at Axel's character crouched in a threat to something he held dearer than anything else, the loss of a dear friend. It was plainly seen, the meaning of that statement, enforced by an accusation riding on that glare from behind his eye. He was insinuating that Axel had a terrible weakness, one that made him unfit to even be a part of Organization XIII.

Axel growled, a momentary flash of what could only be described as not anger, but fear flickered behind his emerald eyes as the word 'no' was formed by silent lips. He suddenly regained his senses and quickly retorted with something he thought sounded at least somewhat cocky. "If nothing else, I'm loyal to what I deem worthy of my loyalty."

"So you would go against the Superior if he ordered Roxas' destruction?" Xaldin enquired, yet his question sounded more like a statement of the obvious.

"Hey, don't put words in my mouth! My own skin is what I value most, buddy, make no mistake on that. I'll carry out any order the superior hands down because my existence rides on it and I don't care about anything but myself... and my own enjoyment." Axel snorted and shrugged his shoulders in his usual 'I could care less' sort of way; however there was a look he cloud feel trying to break through. He could feel it there at the edge, in the almost painful way his eyes were beginning to hurt. He quickly closed his eyes in fear of that terrible pain would show through and simply hoped it looked as though he didn't care.

It was harder than Axel thought, though. Usually an accusation or a comment like that would roll right off his back. He could laugh evilly and throw an insult right back without even having to think about it, but this time something was terribly wrong. He felt something strange deep in his chest. I tightening that seemed so out of place, it was something he remembered from so long ago, but hadn't felt in ages. Something very familiar with guilt and utter sadness.

It may have been for just a moment when he had closed his eyes and shrugged so lazily, but it felt like a lifetime. A lifetime of hearing his own condemning voice in his head saying '_you'd kill your best friend just to save your own skin?'_ accompanied by that look Roxas would get. That extremely rare, confused, almost stricken look he'd get on his face when something horrible had just happened. That look only Axel had ever seen because Axel was the only one close enough to the boy to actually see it.

Guilt. That's exactly what it was. That horrible _feeling_ never set well with him, even when he was whole. He'd get very slight pangs of it from time to time when Roxas wished it on him, but not any other time. For it to settle on him now without the boy around, after so many years of not feeling anything at all, that was simply unbearable. That intense guilt that had been building up suddenly festered into something far more frightening.

A dark cloud seemed to be brewing behind those dark green eyes when Axel snapped his eyelids open and shot a glare back at Xigbar. "However, I don't take to kindly to threats," he grinned, an evil sort of smirk that bordered on something far more frightening and yet strangely sad, as he leaned over the table to pin Xigbar with his next statement. "But while we're on the subject of pointless orders that will never happen, let's say the order were to come for your extermination... Let's say you turn traitor on us. Ah, now that's an order I'd gladly carry out, but be sure I'd drag it out for as long as possible. You'll burn slowly, a slow and painful annihilation in the fires of..."

A swift hand shot up grasping the back of Axel's head and slamming him chin first into the table. He blinked, dizzied by the sudden attack, and then noticed it was neither Xigbar nor Xaldin that had lashed out. They both sat bewildered by the scene that had just unfolded, a very uncharacteristic wide-eyed look on both their faces that for some odd fleeting moment reminded Axel of that drunken pirate that acted somewhat gay over at Port Royal.

"Dude..." Xigbar glanced between Axel's pained and angry face to Luxord who was still firmly holding him to the table by the head.

"I think it's getting a little to heated in here. Perhaps some cooling down would be in order," Luxord finally said; a strange blank look on his face as he stared down at the back of his captive's head. It was his poker face, that utterly blank yet calculating look; he seemed so unusually tense as well. It was almost as though he was holding down a venomous snake by the back of the head and fear wouldn't let him release it to get away.

However, the tension in his shoulders suddenly broke without warning. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he finally released Axel. "Get us some drinks will you? Since you were silly enough to fold so early on in the game."

"You could have just ASKED..." Axel was brushing unseen dust from his arm and smoothing out invisible wrinkles in his coat as he straightened back up and stumbled over to Luxord's personal liquor cabinet. Every inch of the way grumbling about being surrounded by 'over reacting dip-sticks.'

"And you better not give me an Axel Special!" Xigbar chuckled over his shoulder, "I saw you hocking a lewgie into Saix's tea pot that one time."

"One is wise if he knows when to fold..." Luxord breathed as he rubbed the scorch marks shaped like fingers on the edge of the table, yet Xigbar seemed oblivious to the danger he had just been in.

"It only works if the drink is hot..." Axel chuckled, once again the care-free sort who honestly didn't mind their company. "I didn't see you making a move to stop me."

"Why should I? It was FUNNY!" Xigbar snorted, started to laugh when he caught that strangely intense poker face of Luxord's out of the corner of his eye.

Axel turned back around with four drinks on a tray and sauntered over to the game table, "Hence the reason I like you... Sometimes." He stressed the 'sometimes' with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes as he set the tray down and waited for them to take their drinks before taking one.

"Jokes are one thing, but I think you could do with a little dose of some compassion when it comes to your allies. Let's not curse our luck by talking about killing off our comrades, eh?" Axel raised his glass slightly, a wicked little smirk playing on his lips.

"Compassion is for the emo, dude, not part of my deal," Xigbar snorted, "but I like ya... otherwise I wouldn't torment you as much as I do. You just need to learn the basics of pranking people, I'd be happy to tutor you."

"You two are hopeless." Xaldin sipped his drink, "Can we _please _get back to our game or are we going to sit here and bleed our 'hearts' out at each other with how much we like each other..."

"You guys go on; I'm really not in the mood for this. I'm going back to my room..." Axel raised his glass again as he was walking away, "I'll leave it in the kitchen on my way." He tapped the glass with his finger making it chime faintly.

"Aw, he doesn't want us to see him drunk because he's such a lightweight..." Xigbar cooed like he was talking to a kitten.

"Nah, I just don't like being around you all when you're plastered out of your skulls. Nothing worse than a bunch of guys crying in their beers and then passing out under the table."

Luxord was sitting with his elbows on the table and fingers laced just under his nose, seemingly deep in thought. He was watching Xaldin intently, studying him it seemed, while stealing quick glances over at Xigbar who was still chuckling at Axel.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Fate," Axel chuckled as he closed the door behind him.

"He's a pain in the butt when he's moody like this but I do get a kick out of that jerk." Xigbar lifted his glass, the brim just about to contact his lips.

"STOP!" Luxord ordered. "Something's wrong. Don't drink that..."

Xigbar lowered the glass a fraction. "What? He couldn't have spat in it, you were watching him. I could feel it you were staring so hard at him."

"I don't know that there's anything in it. It just bothers me that he never took a drink while he was in our presence. That..." Luxord paused as he turned and looked at the closed door, "…and he said 'thanks for making me feel better.' What could he have meant by that?"

"He was in a pretty foul mood when he came in here. He left his usual self. So what?" Xigbar shrugged. "You know that guy has mood swings. I think it's the Squirt affecting him... that kid's emo so it like spreads like a disease."

"Xaldin, how do you feel?" Luxord dismissed Xigbar's statement, glancing instead at the Whirlwind Lancer who was rubbing the corner of his eye with a look of irritation on his face.

"Perfectly fine, but I would have appreciated you voicing your concern a little faster." Xaldin tapped his half empty glass on the table.

"Well I wasn't suspecting the drink until he said that. I can't even say there's anything to worry about at all. I didn't see anything unusual. I just... He was furious a few moments ago. He didn't cheer up until he got us the drinks, and then he didn't actually drink it," Luxord stated, pushing the drink in front of him away just an inch.

"I told you Axel's always like that. He's got serious mood swings and I think he's got a major case of ADD." Xigbar suddenly laughed, "that and the kid can't hold his liquor. You think he has mood swing now...you should see when he's plastered!"

"You're right. I know. It's probably nothing." Luxord seemed to ease a little, slumping back in his chair with a sigh. "I guess my gut is wrong this time, I mean if Xaldin is fine..."

"Peachy..." Xaldin sniffed rubbing his nose with his thumb and then sighing.

"Hmmm..." Xigbar rubbed his chin, "I'd lay Munny on your gut instincts..."

There was a moment while the three men sat in uncharacteristic silence, the air in the room becoming heavy with the unease that was beginning to build up not just in Luxord but the other two as well.

"I say we take one of these drinks to Vexen. He'd be giddy over the chance to disassemble something... even if it's just a drink." Xaldin shrugged. "I'm fine, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to be safe."

"Shoot, this is just what he wanted..." Xigbar growled, slamming a fist down on the table. "He's gotten better... oh yes, the punk has gotten better. This is the old 'freak them out and make them think it's bad' trick. I just know it! But that doesn't matter, because it's going to just keep eating at us until we DO go ask Chilly-Willy for help! GAH! I HATE ASKING VEXEN FOR HELP! I can hear his snide whiney little voice taunting me already... ARGH!" he shot to his feet, raising fists to the ceiling as though he were cursing the very castle they were in. "I'M GOING TO GET YOU BACK FOR THIS, AXEL!"

Some ways down the hallway Axel stood, listening to the faint howl from the room he'd left. The corner of his mouth twisted up into a lop-sided smirk as he held his drink out in front of him, making a motion as though he were contemplating it before drinking it. However the liquid bubbled within the tall clear glass, quickly catching fire and evaporating to nothing.

"Good guess, but I'm afraid you have it all wrong, Xigbar."

IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI

There was a moment where she continued to walk briskly onward, trying to force herself to ignore what she had seen and just keep going. She tried to beat back the still small voice in her head begging her to stop and turn back around; she hushed it with ever step she took. Every step that began to slow down more and more until she was standing completely still in the middle of the white hallway with only the small voice growing ever clearer.

It was a useless fight; she never could quiet that little voice that told her to do what was right, even if it meant giving up her chance to be free. Freedom from that locked room, another chance to find where she belonged. And yet those blue eyes and burning pink cheeks flashed in her mind when she thought of 'where she belongs,' bringing forth a regretful sort of pang at the thought of leaving. She let out a sigh lowering her head as she dropped her gaze to her light blue sandals. "They'd find me again anyway..."

With determination she spun back around, her pale blonde hair swung over her shoulder as she slowly retraced her steps. She held her paper and crayon box tightly in one hand as she finally reached the destination that had thrown her resolve to escape out the window.

Namine kneeled quietly in front of the figure in black that was sitting pressed against the wall with his knees and hair hiding his face. She had hurried past him just moments before, trying to block out the familiar sight of him. Hoping the pain she could so easily see racking his body would blind him to her presence and she could escape this whole fate that laid in wait for her like a starving lion.

A delicate hand brushed back the silvery violet hair that hid part of his face. "I'm afraid I can't tell you everything will be fine... I don't know nor do I even understand what is going on right now, but I can feel something is wrong. I can offer you the only thing I have..."

"And what's that?" His voice sounded so faint so weak, muffled by the fabric of his pants where he rested his forehead on his knees.

"A shoulder to cry on."

Such a simple and compassionate answer from someone he barely knew. It was like a burning arrow of guilt and remorse right through the heart, he didn't deserve such a thing as compassion. Especially from someone like her, who had been treated like a prisoner for so long.

"What makes you think a Nobody would bother with something so silly as crying?" He tried to mask the feelings that had emerged unwelcome from within, tried to answer in that cold and calculating way just as he always did; he looked up at her with what he felt was the same uncaring countenance the Cloaked Schemer always greeted people with.

"Oh, I don't know..." Namine paused reaching out and brushing her thumb lightly down his check, erasing the evidence that a nobody could in fact cry. "This perhaps..."

That was all it took, the dam broke and he crumpled back to hugging his knees in anguish like he'd never known before. Such a weak and pathetic display his mind kept screaming at him, and yet he couldn't help but find those small arms that wrapped around his shoulders brought a strange sort of comfort.

Emotions are such a hindrance.

**~Track 8: Winner Takes it All**

And now the pieces are in place, the actors upon this stage have all made their appearance, yet we still have so many questions to answer. Axel continues the chaos despite the strange emotions trying to block his path, but what about Roxas? What will he do next?

~To be continued in Track 9: Don't Be Afraid


	9. I am Terrified

**Author's Notes**: Thanks so much to all who leave a review! and a **great big thank you **to my beta reader **Darkblade**!

Today's song is "I am Terrified" by IAMX (Kingdom of Welcome Addiction) looooove that album to bits! and let's face it... when I hear Demyx sing in my head... he sounds like Chris Corner... now you know. XD**

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Dyme and the Dozen

**Track 9:**

"I Am Terrified." (IAMX)

Roxas walked silently down the hallway, eyes trained on the path ahead and nothing else. He had been trying desperately to shut his thoughts off ever since he had parted ways with Vexen and Lexaeus. After talking to the Chilly Academic, the creator of the Elixir, Roxas found nothing but a bitter sort of dread rather than the words of hope he thought he'd find from the scientist.

'_Old crackpot...'_ Roxas snorted, rolling his eyes for just a second as he mentally torched that "old" man for his stupid experiments.

Even that old coot scientist didn't know the true power of that small flask of rose scented liquid. What Axel thought would be a harmless prank a week ago was perhaps slowly killing him and everyone who touched it.

The worst thing about this situation was he had been a part of it all; Roxas could have stopped it all right at the beginning, yet he didn't. He even went so far as to taking the first step toward destruction by slipping the elixir on Marluxia. It was his fault...

_'My fault…'_

Roxas shook his head, trying to rid himself of the guilt that suddenly swarmed him, echoing in his mind and taunting him relentlessly.

Footsteps echoed behind the youngest nobody, their hollow sounds suddenly becoming all too loud for him to ignore. Two nobodies were now following him as though he were their natural born leader, as though this was the sanest thing in all the worlds to do. They were depending on him, trusting in him, waiting for him to make things right somehow.

'_Strange...' _Here he was, the youngest of the Order and half the cause of all their current problems. Yet here they were, following him, putting all their faith and hopes upon him.

_'Why do they trust me knowing that I'm to blame just as much as Axel?'_

He glanced behind him at the two blondes, Demyx was holding Larxene's hand as he pulled her along quietly. Their appearances were very much like that of tiny children; they looked that helpless to him in this state. Larxene looked so lost as she glanced around the hallway nervously, while the musician leading her by the hand had a look of determination on his face as he stared at Roxas' back. An unwavering expression that only faltered when he caught the younger boy's eye, the determined set of his jaw softened and he suddenly smiled stupidly.

_'What a strange thing...'_ Roxas blinked, feeling the corner of his mouth twist upwards ever so slightly as he turned his attention back to the path ahead without uttering a word to either of them. _'A smile can change the world it seems.'_

How could such a simple thing like that ease the tension that was gripping him? How could Demyx even find the strength to smile in the face of what they had just learned? Was he really that easygoing or was it simply a reflex he had trained himself to do when adversity spat in his face? Strange… and yet, somehow, just knowing that Demyx was still the same seemed to ease that worried knot he began to feel twisting inside him.

Roxas' thoughts came full circle back to Axel; it was the same there, too. Axel could smile just like Demyx did, although admittedly not as often as the musician. And, no, he didn't mean that chilly, snarky sort smile that Axel could get, the one that said, "I have dirt on you and I'm going to rip you down a few pegs with it.'

…No, not that one…

There was a smile that perhaps only Roxas had ever seen. He even wondered if Demyx had ever seen that look flash across Axel's face. It was an uncharacteristically kind, gentle look. Content even. One that made you feel like everything was ok and there was not a thing in the world to worry about, because for that moment in time, Axel had no worries either. It made all other things unimportant, only enjoying that one moment. He could feel like he had a normal life just hanging out with his best friend in the rare little moments like that.

Peace in a weary existence.

If only Roxas could turn the corner ahead and see that smile greet him and let him know that everything was fine and would be fine to the very end. But each time he wished for it, it just simply wouldn't happen. They had walked all over oblivion it seemed, Axel was not in any of his usual haunts so far, thus kicking up the fear in Roxas' mind. He was starting to worry about where his friend could have escaped to; it would help if he knew what sort of state of mind the red head was in. Was he bent on destruction and chaos still? Continuing his reign of doom... Or was he off sulking somewhere in emotional self-loathing? Could just holding the elixir have changed him that much?

This search was tiring, walking all over creation instead of teleporting through the darkness to places he might find Axel. _'It would help if I didn't have tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum following me like lost sheep.'_

Roxas cringed at how harsh his own thoughts had become. Yes, they were slowing him down. A LOT… But they _were_ his friends, well, Demyx was at any rate, and they were frightened by emotions they hadn't truly felt in a long time. He was worried about Demyx and Larxene just as much as the others, but at this rate he couldn't search for Axel and the Elixir the way he wanted to. If he could be free of them for just a moment, he could use the darkness to transport to different areas much faster than on foot. But if they were developing hearts, if by some chance the Elixir was doing what Vexen had set out to do... what would happen to a being with an unstable heart in the middle of darkness?

It was too risky, and thus they were slowing the search.

With a very audible sigh, Roxas lowered his eyelids as he walked, trying to lose the thoughts taunting him without letting on that something was bothering him. Despite his effort to seem unfazed, he knew Demyx had picked up on his distress when he heard a sort of grunt, or more accurately a whimper, escape the musician behind him. He ignored the sound and tried to focus back on his lost friend, perhaps he could figure out where he went if he just thought about him long enough.

The exposure to the elixir had been minimal for Axel. Roxas had made a mental checklist of the times he had actually SEEN the strange emotional reactions to given situations. It was merely a small handful of times, three, maybe four times at most, and they were very minor reactions. Something akin to being pestered by a fly, slouching shoulders, twitching. Really, that wasn't all that unusual; Roxas found that he could lay the guilt on Axel just as easily as twisting the emotions of the average human. However, when his dear friend had ran from Zexion's room he seemed truly upset. Guilty. That was one word for that reaction. Honest to goodness REMORSE. And remorse was an emotion Axel had laid to rest with his Somebody so long ago.

If Axel was truly depressed there were two places Roxas could think of. But they weren't really Axel's places, they were his own. They were the first two places Axel would go to look for him, so maybe he would eventually end up there looking for a friend who understood him? If Axel was not in his usual spots or at Roxas' then that meant he had continued his reign of chaos with the elixir. Which meant Xigbar would most likely be the next target...

_'Should I risk letting that guy know what's going on? Axel's always trying to out prank him, he'd kill me if I told Xigbar anything...'_

"We need to split up." Roxas finally halted in his tracks, not looking around. His mind finally made up, Axel had to be found. That was all there was to it. He HAD to be STOPPED, nothing else matters. He had made the decision and he would stick with it until he brought this all to an end.

Demyx didn't even flinch, it was almost as though he had read every thought that had crossed the young Nobody's mind. And yet the musician had to ask "Why?"

Roxas finally turned, sighing heavily as he did so, "We can't just wonder around aimlessly looking for him. We've checked most of his usual places but there are some that I'd like to try, but they're just a shot in the dark. If we split up, maybe we can have a better chance of tracking him down."

"What kind of Scooby Doo plan is that!" Larxene snapped.

"Yeah, what if we lose Larxene!" Demyx glanced at the blonde woman next to him.

"Me!" Larxene snapped, her attention to Demyx. "What about you, Mr. I-get-lost-in-my-own-bathroom!"

There was a loud slap noise as Larxene's small hand connected with Demyx's bare shoulder, he cringed and instantly began rubbing the sore skin that was already turning a pinkish tint.

"Ouchie, MEAN! You must be feeling better; you're not nice anymore..."

Larxene's expression suddenly fell to horror stricken, before the words had even left his mouth she was chanting "sorry, sorry" and checking for any signs of bruising. Roxas simply shook his head at all this. Obviously, this wasn't something that would just solve itself; despite Larxene's spurts of her former self there was still something horribly amiss.

"Look, our first priority is to stop the spread of the contamination and the only way to do that is to find Axel and the Elixir before he gets it in his head to use it on someone else or before he gets worse. If we split up we can cover more ground, and I will be able to use the darkness portals to look for him," Roxas calmly explained.

Despite how intelligent and articulate Demyx had been not too long ago, Roxas couldn't help but wonder if he was losing the sitar player in his explanation. The blank expressions on both their faces didn't help ease his mind at that point.

"Wait, why can't we use the portals?" Demyx questioned.

"Just to be safe. You know what happens to those with hearts who throw themselves into the darkness, right?" Roxas saw the blank look in Larxene's eyes and decided to continue. "Xemnas has told me before that there have been cases of people with hearts that have thrown themselves through the door to darkness and became consumed. I'm not entirely sure _who_ he was talking about, but I think he was referring to a couple of people he knew personally… somehow… or maybe he was just studying them. Whatever... they became Heartless or something, I don't know."

"But we're Nobodies, we pretty much already walked that path, Hun." Larxene chuckled at the silly concern.

"Yeah, I know that. But you are Nobodies displaying intense emotion when you shouldn't have it. What if one of Vexen's theories was right? What if the Elixir is rebuilding your lost heart?"

"An unstable heart suddenly drowning in darkness, it might kill since a Nobody is no longer a complete being," Demyx muttered. "Wait, you think I've been changed?"

"Who could tell?" Larxene chuckled, "You're always like this, at least from what I remember."

"That's sort of true. You've always been good at faking emotions. But you did say you were having nightmares after Axel had you hide the Elixir, so I figure you must be at least somewhat affected," Roxas added.

"I heard my heart beating... while I was sleeping," Demyx whispered, but no one heard his faint words.

Roxas glanced down the hall for a moment before focusing back on Demyx. "Despite that though, I think you still have your wits about you. Maybe you should take Larxene and go look for Zexion and Marluxia, I think they need you. Also see if you can warn those you come across. Meanwhile, I'll keep looking for Axel. When we find them we'll meet back up at say... the council chamber?" A chilly feeling swept over Roxas as he recalled what happened there last week, would that happen again?

"A...And just go from there," the young Nobody stuttered as he tried to complete his thought.

Demyx blinked, a stupefied look flashing across his aquamarine eyes, "W…Whoa, wait... you're trusting me to look after everybody?"

"Demyx..." Roxas sighed.

"Why me? I can't take care of everyone! I can't even take care of myself most of the time, what if I screw something up! I mean, we're talking about everyone's lives here, I can't..." Demyx squealed frantically, fidgeting from one foot to the other until his panic attack was suddenly interrupted by two firm hands resting on his cheeks.

Larxene pulled Demyx aside and closer, squishing his cheeks between her palms and forcing him to make a strange fishy face. "Demyx... shhhh... you're being stupid."

"Everyone likes you Demyx, they'll listen to you," Roxas added, fighting the little smirk he could feel working its way to the surface.

"Me? Everyone likes _me?" _Demyx pulled from Larxene's grasp and turned towards the shorter Nobody. "What are you talking about! Everyone thinks I'm an idiot. They don't _like _me, they _pity_ me because I'm like the weak link in the chain. No one is going to listen to me just for that reason alone. I'm WEAK. They never thought I could do anything right before, so why would any of them trust in me now?"

"That's not true!" Larxene interjected.

"It is too! I'm always told, _'don't screw this one up like you always do, Number Nine,' 'shut up, Nocturne, you're being stupid,'_ oh, and let's not forget the ever popular, _'what HAVE you been smoking?'_" Demyx ranted, interjecting various voice inflections to sound like certain members of the Organization.

Turning just slightly, Demyx noticed the tremble in Larxene's lips readying for another objection to his words. "And what about you?" He cut her off before a sound could escape her. "I really like you, Larxene, but can you HONESTLY say that you would listen to a word I say, let alone FOLLOW me? Could you ever? You're the one that always says I'm such a bubble head that I can't even find my own way to the bathroom at night."

"That's not fair! I was only teasing you!" Larxene's voice cracked as she spoke. "And it's kinda true! You DO get lost all the time! You're always getting scared and getting turned around in the dark! How many times have I stepped out of the bathroom and found you sound asleep in my bed late at night because you got turned around in the dark? It's annoying... but..."

"See, you even admit that you think I'm an idiot!"

"I DID NOT!" Larxene bellowed. "I said you're a sensitive person who has no sense of direction. And, yes! It annoys me sometimes... but at the same time I wouldn't know what I'd do without those little annoyances." Larxene paused for a moment, nibbling on her lip before she continued.

"It let's me know you're alright. You think I haven't noticed that you seem to get 'lost' in the dark like that only after you've been out on a mission? I worry about you, every time you go. And I know others do, too, you should see Zexion while you're gone... he was reading a book up-side-down once." She chuckled, yet the lighter tone she had taken on was shifting back to the serious one as she went on. "But I never could tell you that. I never could show that rush of relief I felt when I'd step into my room and find you there. Back home, safe, where you belong. I'm too much of a witch to let on how I really feel. I mask everything with this bitter, angry exterior... Calling you names and teasing you when what I really want... is just to tell you how much I care about you."

Demyx and Roxas both blinked at her as she finally trailed off. "Wow, Larxy... you called yourself a witch..."

Larxene glared at the sitar player for a moment before her former self took over and she slugged him in the arm. "IS THAT ALL YOU ZEROED IN ON! You big NINNY!"

"AAAAAW!" Demyx squealed and then threw his arms around Larxene. "That's Larxene for 'love you,' then!"

"Gah! You're such a boob, I swear. I'm never going to live this down..." Larxene mumbled into his shoulder.

"Yeah, I love you, too..." Demyx smiled, giving a tight squeeze before he released her from his bear hug.

Roxas just smiled at them until Demyx turned and made eye contact with him. "You see, Demyx. That's the way everyone is when it comes to you. Everyone likes you, we just can't show it easily because we are Nobodies. They'll listen to you, especially now."

Demyx nodded, smiling just slightly. That was all he needed, simple reassurance that he could actually do what he had been asked to do. It wasn't very often he could be shown how much everyone looked to him for comfort, in fact it was something he was never shown. To hear these things from his two companions was enough to give him the courage to go on. "I'll try, then; I'll try to pull everyone together if you find Axel."

A tear in space behind Roxas signaled he had summoned a portal; shadows swirled out from the tear, growing to an oval sort of shape the same height as the young nobody. "I trust you more than anyone, Demyx; I know only you can bring everyone together and comfort them. You're the only one that can."

With those words, Roxas disappeared into the darkness alone, leaving his two companions to the vast silence of the empty halls.

"Relena..." Demyx turned his head slightly glancing at Larxene.

"Yeah?" Larxene answered before she really knew what he had called her; the realization of what he had said hit her and she found herself stuttering. "Y..Yeah."

"I never thought you'd tell anyone your real name… It's pretty." Demyx smiled, holding out his hand as if to say, "come on, let's go."

"Yeah, I always thought so until I watched Gundam Wing…" Larxene snorted as she took his hand in hers and they walked onward in search of anyone that felt lost and alone; anyone that _felt_.


	10. Can't Fight the Moonlight

**Author's Notes:** Woohoo! finally caught up! this is the NEWEST chapter... just released on DA five minutes ago as well! We're getting close now... close to the end... not SUPER close... but closer. Next chapter I'm going to start touching on some of my theories of KH... things about Roxas and Xemnas, so I hope BBS doesn't prove me wrong once again... heh heh. Oh I didn't mention that here did I? Well... 358/2 Days kinda blew my timeline out the window, I believe in a world where the Organization has all the time in the world and were one big happy family for years and years :P forget the fact that crap went down so fast in that game... it DIDN'T HAPPEN... just as Hughes will always be alive in all my FMA fics... SO WILL ORGANIZATION XIII!

ahem... with that said... THANK YOU! all my reviewers and thank you so much to my wonderful beta reader Darkblade!

Today's song is "Can't Fight the Moonlight" by LeAnne Rimes (I like the techno-ish sounding one) and I think it fits him pretty well.

* * *

Dyme and the Dozen

Track 10: Can't Fight the Moonlight

The small flask on the table shimmered, the liquid inside was still lightly shifting as a result of the light tremor from being set down upon the white surface of the table. The substance within slowed after a moment until it was barely moving at all, telling all that could see that it was now settling, marking a line just shy of halfway.

Honestly, he thought, they hadn't used that much of the rose scented substance; about six victims all together, that is if his last three all had taken the drinks he had offered them. Lipstick, a kiss, three drinks with just a few drops each; that left Marluxia. He must have gotten a heavy dose, a _very _heavy dose considering the fact that only a small coating on a tube of lipstick took down two Nobodies, and simply a few drops were used in each of four drinks.

Ah yes, four drinks. Axel expected one of them to change drinks with him just to make sure he hadn't done anything to it. However, they hadn't even questioned him about the situation, much to his surprise. Luxord was a little more violent than usual, but it was rather hard to read that man. He lived as though he were always playing poker; his attitude and mannerisms never could betray his true intentions.

Axel reached out, a careful and slow sort of motion, his index finger rested on the top of the flask and barely tilting the bottle to the side. The strange translucent heart that hung in the middle of the flask seemed to be crumbling due to the minor movement. Perhaps there was not enough of the liquid left to form that strange illusion within the expanse of the small flask; the lack of liquid was forcing the beautiful little image to degrade. Or maybe, just maybe, the image within the bottle was a mirror of what was happening to the holder of the flask. It certainly felt as though he had something beating painfully in that empty space in his chest, crumbling, deteriorating, but still there.

So much guilt over things that were happening. It was weighing so heavily on him, suffocating him. But why? Why would he feel if he hadn't taken any of this stuff? Sure, Roxas had this strange way to make Axel feel the slight little pangs of regret when he'd done something stupid. But Roxas wasn't here, and this was not a pesky little twinge of regret. This was relentless and painful.

After another moment of blindly staring at the flask, Axel allowed his hand to slip from the bottle down to a small pencil on the table. He gently gave the pencil a flick, forcing it to roll across the table, over some loose papers, then onto the floor with a tiny clatter.

"Roxas is going to kill me…" Finally, words broke the stuffy silence in the empty room. The Nobody tilted his head back and sighed at the ceiling above. Something was wrong; he could feel it right there on the edge of his mind. It nipped at him, taunted him, followed his every move, and forced him to think about things he never would have given a first thought to, let alone a second thought.

This room was always sparse; even so, as Axel shook his head and glanced around he could see it was quickly evacuated. The telltale signs of the occupants hurried departure was the missing box of crayons Axel knew usually sat on the table, the missing spiral bound sketchpad, and finally the very faint dust squares and bits of tape on the walls where beloved artwork had been ripped from them in a hurry.

Naminé would only take them with her, the few possessions she valued. Paper from Demyx, crayons from Roxas, and the dear images of the few Nobodies she cared enough about to actually draw; the only things in her dark little world that offered her some sort of comfort.

"I left the key in the door didn't I? Ugh… that was stupid." Axel sighed as he slowly looked around. "I wonder where she went."

_i'Surely she would say goodbye to someone first? Roxas? Demyx? … Maybe even Zexion… If one could force themselves to think she'd even care about any of them it would be those few Nobodies… So maybe she didn't go too far?' /i _Axel's thoughts tried to comfort him, but he was too quick to slap the idea down, "Yeah right! 'Oh, thank you for the wonderful time keeping me confined against my will in a white cage; let's do this again in the future.' Tch, like ANYONE would say goodbye to their captors when they have freedom i_that_ /iclose."

_i'Sheesh, it was just a thought, man, don't get your panties in a bunch.'/i_

"Oh, shut up…" Axel cringed as soon as he let those words slip, "Great, I'm arguing with myself… This is not a good sign. I have to get out of here before I go insane." He scratched the back of his head and finally huffed. "But that is a possibility. Maybe she didn't get TOO far yet. Despite the whole being locked up against her will thing, she does seem attached to some of the guys... I better at least try to find her for Roxas' sake."

Axel spun on his heel, his coat snapping out behind him and cracking the air as he exited the room. Strangely, this new found resolve to find the missing girl seemed to ease the pain he had felt building deep inside; he felt the icy fingers of guilt slowly releasing him as he slammed the door and walked onward down the hallway.

Was it for Roxas? Finding this girl would make Roxas feel better and so it was making him feel better about earlier? But then, how could confining the girl again make Roxas happy? It never had before…

"Who cares," Axel muttered to the thoughts that were trying desperately to tell him something important was being forgotten as he left the room. All that mattered was that he was beginning to feel right again, or more accurately, he wasn't feeling anymore.

The Elixir sat in silence, the forgotten liquid finally stilled and yet the little heart within shattered even more. The darker liquid struggling to hold its shifted shape and slid to the bottom of the flask like the weak fluttering of a dying bird. A bleeding heart suspended in the scent of roses, a sign that more pain would happen to the inhabitants of the castle if the wrong hands were to settle on the substance within.

… A disturbance shifted the air, sending one of the forgotten doodles on the table sliding past the forgotten elixir and onto the floor…

IOIOIOIOIOIOI

"I don't feel so hot…" Marluxia slowed the fast pace he was being forced to keep in order to stay with the Luna Diviner.

Honestly, he hadn't felt too swift since the morning. The mood swings were pretty bad and it was beginning to eat at him in ways he never remembered having to suffer through, even when he had a heart. It almost seemed as if emotions were the cause of all pain imaginable. Yes, emotions, he had finally allowed it to sink in; he had emotions. For some reason, he was feeling honest to goodness emotions again, almost as though he had his heart once more. Yet the emotions he so longed for were painful in so many ways, debilitating to the point that he nearly wished he could find some dark little hole somewhere to shrivel up and die.

He noticed beauty at first and found he loved the one person he was always around, but it left a painful ache in his chest to see her so much and watch her talk to someone else, let alone witness what he had earlier. It was as though love could only walk with jealousy, envy, and wrath. Now sadness was eating at him, making him sick. Fear was crippling him and making it hard for him to move forward.

"Is this really what I want? Is this really what we're fighting for?" The Graceful Assassin muttered to himself as he placed his palm over his chest.

Nothing beat there and somehow that was enough assurance to push him along his way again. At least something in all this chaos was right. What should have been a scary feeling to a normal human being was so much comfort, and that wave of relief that swept through him was enough to keep him going.

Saïx's steps never faltered, his pace remained just the same; he never even acknowledged the fact that something had been said. He simply remained focused on the path ahead and nothing else.

For just a brief second, Marluxia managed to gather his composure and quickly trotted along to catch up to his companion. But that pleasant wave of relief was short lived, whatever had been bothering him flared up again, but violently so this time. His progress stopped all together as he quickly slowed to a stop, faltering steps bringing him close enough to the wall to lean heavily on it. "Saïx…" He managed to mutter the name, and then quickly lifted a hand to his stomach.

The fast paced steps echoed loudly in his ears despite the fact that they should be growing quieter with the increased distance between them. "SAIX, WAIT!"

"WHAT!" Saïx barked, casting a glare over his shoulder that was so intense it could have dropped a charging bear dead in its tracks.

"I don't feel well!" Marluxia stated rather loudly, still managing to keep his tone flat, trying desperately to fight the underlying whine in his voice and cringing at how weak he sounded despite his efforts. "Can we PLEASE stop for just a moment!"

"Do I look like I care!" Saïx snarled, tempting himself to just turn and be on his merry way.

Marluxia only grimaced, leaning his back against the welcoming cool surface of the wall as he wrapped his arms around his middle and slowly allowed gravity to drag him to the floor. "Obviously, you don't, and neither do I care if you just trot along your merry way then."

The hair on the back of Saïx's neck bristled, giving him that angry feral cat sort of look as he turned back and retraced his steps to his companion. "Come on, I don't have all day."

"Go without me. I'm not feeling well, and I'm staying right here until whatever this is passes." Marluxia snorted, nose in the air, while he managed to make a shooing motion with one hand.

A split second later, Saïx turned on his heel, stomping away only to be stopped suddenly by his own traitorous thoughts and forced to turn back. Marluxia listened to it for a moment as he rested his forehead on his knees and hugged his stomach. He could hear the way the Luna Diviner would stomp away, growl to himself and then come back to stare daggers at him for a moment.

"You're not making things any better, you know," Marluxia finally muttered under his breath.

"I can't just leave you here," Saïx stated, the annoyance in his voice clear as crystal. "Who knows what sort of trouble you could cause with the way you're acting." Whatever sort of sympathy could have been gleaned from that first statement was now completely gone with that last part.

"Me?" The graceful Assassin lifted his head quickly enough to flick his layered hair out of his face and shoot the other nobody a hateful stare. "I'm not the one that's doing this! I'm a victim! And while we're on the subject, you're not exactly being the epitome of 'normal' here."

"You're still a problem." Saïx simply ignored that last part of the statement. "With all these mood swings and freakish behavior, I can't trust you enough to leave you alone."

"So I'm moody... at least I've got a reason to be so. Poisoned by some unimaginable thing that's making me feel like I would like to crawl under a rock and die." Marluxia paused when he saw Saïx's lips moving out of the corner of his eye. He didn't even have to hear the faint words to know what was said. It was obviously something along the lines of, 'I could grant that for you...' and that was just another bit of salt in his wounds. "Unlike you, who has been steadily getting angrier for no good reason at all. What, is it a full moon or something? Do you tend to get more beastly during certain cycles, hmm?"

A slip of a snarl wavered across his lips, and for just a moment Marluxia could have sworn he saw the hint of a fang nipping into Saïx's bottom lip. "I'll ignore that statement..." Hatred dripped from those words as he paused and forced the tone back. "We have more important things to deal with right now."

Obviously, Saïx was trying to keep things under control, trying with all his might to keep his cool and collected demeanor. But that illusion was slowly shattering, heaven only knows why, but it was crumbling to the ground with every second.

"What if the Superior..." Saïx's agitated grumbling was cut off suddenly by a burst of taunting laughter.

'So i_that's/i_ it!" Marluxia chuckled. "You're just trying to cover your own butt now. I see how it is. You're terrified that the Superior is going to come out of his vegetable state and find us all running amok about the castle with rampant 'emo' fits. And you're afraid that it's going to come down on your head and tarnish your little bootlicking teacher's pet status simply because you weren't a good little puppy and took care of things while Master was out..."

There was a moment of silence, a chilling sort of silence that had an almost electric buzz to it. It was almost painful, that moment where dark blue eyes met golden. The way Saïx's eyelids rose with his eyebrows giving him a horror stricken look; his golden eyes the size of saucers were almost funny, especially since that look of utter shock was perfectly mirrored on Marluxia's face. The Assassin knew he had just stepped on forbidden ground, and Saïx was temporarily dumbstruck that someone would actually voice something so horrible. All this seemed to play out so slowly, as if someone had slowed the frames per second of life and time simply inched on.

Then the hammer fell. Violently.

Suddenly, time was back in its normal state and the shocked look on Saïx's face shattered like glass as a enraged snarl pulled his lip back over fangs. He looked completely different now and yet strangely the same; it was funny how his berserk mode changed his features so drastically and yet you could still look at him and see the same calm man that had just handed you your orders earlier.

Normally, Saïx was an even tempered man, even soft spoken at times. He always had this looming stature and powerful feel just below the surface of his controlled exterior, but he was always so levelheaded that one could even say he was listless. It was no wonder he was the one that walked closest to the Superior, handing down orders to the others in spite of the fact that he was not technically the second of the Organization. Really, it was quite hard to imagine anyone else that close to the Superior, it was almost as if Saïx was made for that role. The others, despite how much they would love to be second in command – if not IN command – just didn't quite fit. Saïx was this perfect balance of strength, intelligence, and loyalty. However, some liked to joke that the reason he stood where he did was simply because the Superior, despite the rumors, was a very smart man. He knew full well the nature of a Nobody, and thus he wanted a loyal "attack dog." Which was a role Saïx could also fill just fine. That calm man could snap at a moment's notice, giving way to a feral beast that could rip into a person and hand them a steaming plate of their own entrails.

Like Jykle and Hyde, this ability to shift from gentle to ferocious was the berserk mode of the Luna Diviner. It really was what made him perfect in his role. And yet that perfection also had flaws. It was easy to call loyalty by a different name, just as it was easy to call him simpleminded. Those who lack hearts have no sympathy or ability to reason out good intentions, if you were a faithful follower you were either a kiss-up that was trying to take over or an idiot that could be controlled and pointed like a gun. The fact that Saïx may have honestly wanted the best for the Organization most likely never even entered their minds.

To think such a thing of another Nobody was one thing, to voice it... and to voice it to one like Saïx... that was downright stupid.

Even now, Marluxia couldn't help but notice the way Saïx snarled, the way his hair bristled, sharp claws extending on his long fingers; it all looked so much like a wolf that was trying to defend his territory and his own pride. It was really quite fitting, moonlight and such a transformation, it all fit so well. Wolves were loyal to their packs, they bask in moonlight, and instill fear in the hearts of those who try to defy them. It was perfectly Saïx.

However, being on the receiving end of that snarl was not exactly a comfortable feeling. A shiver of fear ran down Marluxia's spine as the realization hit him that he had seriously crossed the line. Sure, there were jokes about Saïx being the Superior's lapdog, it went hand in hand with calling him wolfy, but nobody dared to mention it within earshot of the man. It was a stupid move on his part, especially since the Berserker was already so on edge. It seemed as though he was getting more and more agitated with each step they had taken, and Marluxia just kept pushing him despite the warning signs.

Marluxia was on his feet in an instant, his mind screaming to get the heck out of Dodge while the getting was good, but he didn't make it two steps before he felt himself being dragged to a screeching halt by the loose dress shirt he was wearing. The rip of fabric sounded in his ears before he felt his feet come up off the floor and found he was suddenly flying backwards and slamming painfully against the wall. It almost felt as though every scrap of air he had in his lungs burst out painfully, but then the worst part was the way the claws around his throat suddenly tightened and refused to allow him to regain his lost breath.

"Now... you think you could run that by me again?" Saïx snarled, just slightly releasing the vice-like grip he had on the Graceful Assassin.

Marluxia gasped, choking slightly as he tried to speak, "I-I... Didn't m-mean it!" The grip tightened, sending another wave of fear through him, "I-I mean, it was a j-joke! Honestly, I didn't..."

"A JOKE!" Saïx barked, a wicked sort of laughter in his voice that, despite the fact that it was a laugh that erupted from him, didn't sound a bit amused. "You think it 's funny i_now/i_?" He tightened those claws, reveling in the pained gasp from the Assassin.

Saïx watched a moment as Marluxia feebly tried to pry off the hand that was so firmly planted on his throat, then that evil smirk faltered briefly. "So tell me Number Eleven..."

The only thought in Marluxia's mind at the moment was that overwhelming fear. That crippling, horror stricken feeling of being totally and utterly powerless and at the mercy of someone who was simply out of his mind with rage. An image flickered across his panicked mind, that moment earlier that day when his own rage had spurred him to do exactly this to Axel. Wasn't it funny how the tables can turn so suddenly? How strange emotions could be. They could give you strength, and they could take it away. If only he could find a way back to what he was before this morning. If only he could find a way to block these emotions and be the powerful man he used to be. The one that struck fear in the hearts of many, to control the darkness with the strength of his own will.

He felt the grip slacken just slightly, felt the claws that were threatening to rip into him withdraw the tiniest amount, then heard that chilling voice in his ears. Marluxia was suddenly aware that he had his eyes screwed shut, and was perfectly willing to leave it that way. If he was going to meet death by the hand of one of his fellow members of the Organization, he was willing to meet it in the darkness that he was brought forth in.

"... Who else shares this little joke with you?" That voice still snarled, but there was this strange underlying sadness to it.

For a moment, Marluxia's brain swam in confusion, he had to assure himself he wasn't dead and then he had to try to make sense of what exactly was being asked of him. He finally decided to risk a glimpse at his enraged attacker and carefully cracked open an eye to cast a weary glance at Saïx.

More shocking than the feral rage that snapped like electricity from every hair, pore, and fiber of the Berserker was the strangely clashing look in the gold eyes. He was enraged, completely taken over by that "alter ego" he kept so carefully locked away, but his eyes still had that calm look to them. No, it was something more than that. Marluxia could have sworn there was something more there. A sadness? Confusion? Maybe even fear?

However, Saïx must have sensed it, maybe even saw a flicker of pity on the Assassin's face. Whatever fleeting emotion that was lingering at the edges suddenly melted into the steely glare the Diviner usually wore when he had slipped beyond sanity and into the depths of rage. The grip he had on Marluxia's neck tightened just enough to remind the other Nobody exactly what sort of situation he was in.

The feel of sharp claws biting into skin wiped away whatever lingering traces of confusion that may have been fogging Marluxia's brain. The new found clarity in the situation brought his chaotic mess of tumbling feelings and thoughts bubbling down to one thing. The feel of those claws and the reality of what they could do.

"I said..." Saïx ground the words out, a sickly sort of faux sweetness dripping off them before he allowed the growl to filter back and change them to the threat he meant them to be. "Who is in on it?"

"G-good grief Sa..." The claws tightened and Marluxia decided it would be best not to try and stall or lie his way out of it. "... E-everyone..."

An eyebrow arched just slightly, and Saïx's lip trembled just a fraction, it looked more like a growl had escaped him than anything else. But that simple little answer was not enough, he wanted to know exactly what it was that had been circulating around behind his back all this time. What hideous things had they said about him, what sort of joke had they made him become?

"Oh?" Saïx just barely let the pressure on the other Nobody's throat slacken. "And where did this little joke start?"

Marluxia just breathed for a moment, thankful that he could even do such a simple thing. Saïx was asking him to spill his guts, and then he'd most likely spill them for real. Despite the overwhelming intensity of fear that was trying to strangle him, Marluxia's mind kept running over the same thing. The emotions he was feeling now and the memories that were still hazy thanks to that poison, but still there.

Marluxia had been such a powerful Nobody, nothing could stand up to him. Larumia was such a weak creature, crippled by his emotions. Why in the name of Kingdom Hearts did he want to be that weak thing again? Why would he turn his back on his caliber of ability for emotions? For a name? He wanted to be called Larumia again, simply for the emotional attachment, that was all that had been. His memories told him who he used to be, what it had been like to feel, that way he could mimic those with hearts. But the emotions gave those memories useless meanings, if only it would work the other way right now. If only he could flip that emotional switch off.

Once upon a time, he was so powerful. He had always been a powerful Nobody, Xemnas had even said so himself. He had come out of that lost confused stupor every Nobody goes through at "birth" faster than anyone else had. If only he could find that again... wait...

He needed time. Time to think, time to react. But the claws, the lack of air, everything was against him, he couldn't think clearly. Could he lay the burden of this fury down on his companions? If he spilled everything to Saïx about this, that fury would be shifted from him to the one who originally stated this observation, it would take the heat off of him and give him time to gather himself. The morality issue, his comrades, he should protect them...

"... But I won't..." Marluxia chuckled under his breath and then his expression fell blank, except for that slight little curl upwards at the corner of his mouth. "I believe it was Xigbar that spread the rumor like a fire in an old wood mill. He was always lurking about and saying random things about you while you had your back turned. He would even go so far as to try and get whoever was going out on their mission to crack up while they were getting their orders from you. I think he'd bark... sometimes... disguise it as a cough..."

The tight grip trembled, faltered, loosened ever so slightly; that was enough to allow a snide little smirk to slither its way across Marluxia's face. "Or the random little things he'd say. Little quips here and there with words that sounded right but weren't. 'Woof you like to help me with this mission?' Or my personal favorite, 'A mission lycan none you've been on, lil' dude...' He was full of them. Some clever, some rather blatant, I was always amazed you didn't hear it. But then maybe you did hear it and were just brushing it off as your own para-n-oia..."

Marluxia felt the bite of claws on his neck, felt the slip of something warm running over his shoulder and down his back. Yet despite that, he continued to smile, at least he was meeting his end as the Graceful Assassin and not that cowardly little emotional creature he had longed to become again.

"Saïx! STOP!" A stranger had stumbled upon the scene unfolding. It wasn't often that someone within the Organization would bother themselves with the plight of another, especially when that plight involved pulling off a berserked Saïx.

Marluxia felt another set of hands trying to pull the claws from his throat, but he wasn't seeing clearly any longer. His eyes were about to roll back into his head when he felt the vice-like grip finally release with a slick, sticky sort of slide and heard words of salvation coming from a voice he never would have expected in a thousand years.

"I believe the execution of stray members falls within my job description, so if you have a beef with the Pink Wonder here, you better take it up with the Superior." Axel wedged his way between the two, planting a palm against Saïx's chest and pushed him back a few steps from the other.

It was too easy. Far too easy to push him off the man, yet Axel ignored the strangeness of the situation and just glared at the attacker with a twisted little grin, keeping himself as a sort of human shield for Marluxia as he coughed and gasped for air.

Saïx had visibly reverted already. He no longer had that feral look about him, in fact it was quite the opposite now. He looked stunned, almost as though he wasn't even there anymore. It was very unlike him to look so utterly confused and lost, like a ferocious lion turned kitten in the rain.

"Why... why would... they," Saïx muttered while he blankly stared at the small traces of blood still on his hand. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Well, for starters you could try not going all nutso on Marly's skinny butt." Axel snorted despite the fact that he had no real clue what was eating the Diviner. He cast a glance behind him at the lump of Nobody still kneeling weakly on the floor, holding a hand over the fresh wound on his neck. "But then I wasn't here for the opening curtain, if you know what I mean. I don't know, even if he asked for all this, that's no excuse to start attacking our own."

Saïx grimaced and then growled. "He was driving me nuts!"

"So what! He drives everybody nuts sometimes. That's still no excuse to try to rip out his windpipe!" Axel snarled right back. "What's gotten into you!"

That last question, that strange look in Axel's eyes betrayed the fact that he was actually confused by what he had just stumbled into. It was a flicker, nothing more than a whisper across his features. But it had been there, betraying the truth that among all the Organization, Axel _did_ know him better than anyone ever would.

"I don't have time for new found idiocracy! I have enough worries on my mind right now, and I don't need you being a dipstick added to it," Saïx snapped, sounding furious, yet that berserker mode was still in check.

"Dipstick! I'm not the one randomly turning on my own people and trying to KILL them for no sane reason at all!" Axel shot back.

"Not turning! b**You always turn on people**!/b" Saïx hadn't been looking Axel in the eyes this whole time, it was almost as though he knew his eyes would betray him if he did. That is until that moment; he jabbed his index finger into Axel's chest as he continued. "You're _always _doing stupid things to everyone around you even now! Even your own friends! And then you have the guts to say it's a joke!"

A flicker of emotion ran across Axel's emerald eyes, understanding on some level perhaps. "This again? It WAS just a joke!" He slapped away the offending digit that was digging painfully into his chest.

"A burning pile of dog crap on the porch is NOT A JOKE!" Saïx's snapped, closing the small gap between them and towering over the other nobody.

"YES it is! And it would have been freakin' hilarious if..."

"My MOM hadn't opened the door?" Saïx's interrupted.

Marluxia shifted on the floor, tilting his head slightly to the side enough to stare up at the two arguing over him, arguing over something totally random. "...Saïx's Mom?" he muttered under his breath, trying to follow what in the world was going on between these two.

"I only did THAT because YOU put superglue on my Frisbee!" Axel suddenly got a stricken look on his face. "That hurt, man!"

"I didn't i_make_ /iyou catch it with your teeth..." Saïx snorted. "... And besides, THAT was vengeance for asking Usagi out when you b**knew/b** I liked her! You knew I was trying to work up the guts to ask her."

"I did you a favor, man... She was a total whack-job. Whiny, screechy, talked to her cat... and a weird moon fetish. Oh, wait... No, you would have dug that." Axel started to laugh, but found himself suddenly locked in a strangle hold under Saïx's arm.

"I swear I'm going to rip your guts out your nose! You're such a jerk, Lea!" Saïx snarled as he tightened his strangle hold on the redhead.

"Wait! Wait, Isa..." Axel wheezed, feeling the vice like grip slacken. "I want to say sorry."

Saïx didn't answer, he just stared down at the red spikes under his arm. Axel took the silence and the slackened grip as a cue to continue. "I'm sorry. About your Mom having to put out the flaming poo... in her new pantyhose... and no shoes... just before church."

"She was seriously mad... that was her new pair..." Saïx mumbled, slackening his grip a little more.

"I really didn't want something like that to happen to her." Axel hung his head in what appeared to be sorrow.

"Yeah, well... That was a while ago... I guess..." Saïx was still muttering but Axel suddenly cut in again.

"I mean, your Mom is HAWT! That shouldn't happen to someone with all i_that/i_ going on!" Axel suddenly yanked his head out of the weak hold before Saïx had a chance to clamp down on him again in his rage.

It looked as though Saïx had turned red from his hairline down to his toes, and yet he still didn't look enraged like he had been just moments before. His lip pulled back into a snarl, but there was no sign of a fang. He seemed relatively normal, and yet this was something Marluxia had never seen before. Were they playing with each other? Had Axel, of all people, just calmed the Berserker down that quickly and then proceeded to tease and play with him?

Saïx was in mid-lunge for Axel once again when he happened to flick a golden glance at the Nobody on the floor staring back at him with a look of cold calculation. It was almost like getting caught singing in the shower, or staring at yourself in a mirror. Saïx halted mid-step, straightened, and coughed into his fist while tactfully averting his eyes elsewhere, anywhere other than the Nobody that was now scrutinizing him so.

Axel just chuckled evilly, hopping far enough out of reach to know he was now safe before turning to Marluxia and offering his hand. Cold dark blue eyes finally ripped from Saïx to Axel, a flickering glance between his face and the outstretched hand. Whatever emotions Marluxia had been showing were now gone. He seemed void of everything, as though he not only found a way to shut them off but had managed to shut himself down as well.

"Marly...?" Axel's fingers twitched lightly, his reach faltered, wavered briefly. The smile on his face disappeared as he watched the Nobody look back at Saïx briefly, empty.

For a fleeting moment, Axel felt a sort of dread clutch at him. He knew this situation very well, but never had he seen someone relapse into it. "Marly..." He hadn't meant for it to happen, but his voice sounded weak, worried.

As suddenly as it had taken him over, it was gone. Marluxia closed his eyes, head tilting down slightly before a short staccato laugh erupted from him. It sounded more like a snort of irritation as he backhanded Axel's kind gesture away. With a low groan barely escaping him, Marluxia pulled himself up into his usual powerful stature, lifting his nose into the air while running his bare hand down the side of his neck, wiping away blood and flicking it to the ground at his feet. He straightened, casting a steely glare at Saïx. "Well, it's been fun, but I have business to get back to."

Axel finally lowered his hand, still dumbstruck by the strange turn in the Nobody, "Marluxia... are you alright?"

"Never been better." Marluxia's tone was flat, sarcastic in a way, but he did manage to cast a fleeting glance at Axel. Something was still there, an emotion of some sort that warmed his cold features briefly. He then turned to leave the two alone, but his steps faltered. "Oh, and Saïx, I almost forgot something."

"What..." Saïx barked.

"It wasn't Xigbar who started it all. No, it was the observation of someone standing right next to the Superior..." Marluxia allowed the corner of his mouth to turn up into a cat like grin as he cooed, "…It was Vexen."

Axel choked as Marluxia sauntered away, suddenly understanding what exactly he had stepped into. Everyone knew this, everyone had heard that joke flittering around, buzzing like a pesky fly thanks to Xigbar. But everyone also knew that it was Vexen who had started it, unintentionally of course. He had simply walked up to the Superior and snidely remarked, 'Hmph, you found yourself a perfect lapdog, haven't you?' as he handed him some reports. All it took was for Xigbar to have been lurking outside the door – that was the end. What was only ever meant to be Xemnas and Vexen snapping at each other had turned into something far worse.

But to TELL the man this? All this time he had no clue! Even Xemnas didn't hear such things; he'd be just as furious but he'd know exactly who to bring the hammer down on.

Axel spun around to Saïx just in time to see his dark leather flicker through a darkness portal that immediately snapped shut behind him. "Marluxia!" He spun back and took out after the retreating nobody.

"I can't believe you told him about that! You do know he's going to kill them both, don't you?" Axel slowed to walk beside the Assassin.

Marluxia didn't answer, that cool and determined demeanor was melting. He was even starting to sweat if the way his hair was beginning to flatten on his forehead and around his face was any indication. Axel grabbed his arm, a little too forcefully judging from the way the man violently faulted and snapped back like a rubber band against him.

"Marluxia, what's wrong?" Axel had to hold the other Nobody up, whatever strength had been there just moments ago was completely gone now. Perhaps he had even used up the last of it trying to throw up a 'normal' act in front of Saïx. "You're bleeding again..." Axel noted aloud when he happened to brush back the layers of cherry colored hair, trying to get his arm around the man's waist so he could hoist him up. "... He really tore you up. Here, get your arm over my shoulder..."

The Graceful Assassin must have been somewhat still with him because he weakly obeyed the order and slipped his arm around the back of Axel's neck, giving the Nobody a better grip to drag him down the hallway. Axel chuckled despite everything. "Heh, look at us... a little bit ago you were trying to kill me, and rightfully so, and now I'm dragging your sorry butt down the hall. I must be nuts."

Marluxia chuckled, a weak sort of sound, before his forehead connected with Axel's leather covered shoulder and all went black.

**~End Track 10: Can't Fight the Moonlight**

* * *

**Extra blah notes:**

I tied Saix and Axel to their real names and made referrerences to them being friends as somebodies (at least I'm trying to tie it back and make it more official sounding).

LOL Isa has the hots for Sailor Moon. Usagi aka Serena from Sailor Moon. Eats junk, talks to cats...

Isa and Lea... I hate those names. at least Lea is better than calling Axel after a hard drink. (funny as it is.) But you know what I wanted to call him? Alex. And I had a joke all worked out and a comic in the works about how he dropped one of the Xs out of his name because it made him sound like a cheap porn movie. But Isa... uugh... that's a girls name. No wonder Saix has issues with anger managment now. I don't know I guess I don't like it because it's too close to Isla (my OC girl as in my own series... girl... not KH OC...)


	11. Memories

**Author's Notes:** oh my word guys I'm so sorry! I don't know why I can't keep it in my head to update here as well as on DA! Anyway, as always if you want the chapters rigth away, always check DA for updates because I remember to do it there. (I don't know why because the format for stories is much better here.) and I promise I'll try to remember to update here and keep everything as close as possible. I think I need to stick a post-it to my forehead when I'm writing (update:DA and FF dot net, ya ding dong! ) LOL

Once again, thank you so much to Darkbladezz for being my beta! You're the best!~

Also guys I think in either this Track or the next one I mention something that happens between Namine and Marluxia... it's from a 3-part story I wrote called **_Wish Upon A Dying Star _**(which I will post up here in a few minutes) it's not important that you read it, but it does cover a few jokes I mention here. So if you're confused, go take a peek at that. It's a cute one about Namine and when she was brought into the Organization.

* * *

Dyme and the Dozen

Track 11: **_Memories_**

_I imagine you here. Here with me. Standing by me like you always did, fighting right beside me. Telling me everything is okay, reminding me what we live for, what we fight for. _

_Love. The love of friends, of family, of the worlds. _

_I miss you... I miss you both. _

_... I miss you... so much..._

… _so much... my heart will break._

Roxas carefully touched the zipper of his coat as he walked away from the vacant room, running his gloved fingers over the rough teeth before sliding his hand down to his pocket. He patted the small lump formed by the elixir beneath the leather of his coat for what he thought was the fourth, no, maybe fifth time since he had picked it up. That icy grip of dread he felt while walking with Demyx and Larxene was still haunting him, but now it seemed to be growing steadily worse.

He had hoped with all his soul that Axel would be there at Naminé's door. Somehow Roxas had convinced himself that if he only got hold of Axel everything would suddenly be fine. He just hadn't thought about the possibility that he wouldn't be there, or even what would happen after he had found his friend. He just felt that maybe things would click into place; perhaps the planets would align or something like that and all would be right with the world.

Nothing could ever be that easy, could it?

Not that he had been wrong entirely. Axel had been there, and thankfully had forgotten the bane of all their existence at this time. But the thing that was now shooting small spikes of icy fear through Roxas' being was the fact that Namine's room was now empty.

She was gone... and so was his closest friend.

A sigh escaped the small Nobody as he slowed and stumbled towards the wall, slipping down the side until he was sitting on the cold marble floor. He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it slightly, and then rested his forehead on his knees that he had pulled up to his chest.

"I need to think... I just need to think..." Roxas muttered to himself, warming the leather covering his knees with his breath.

He suddenly felt so lost, so alone. But the strange thing was he wasn't sure if it was because Axel was missing or if it was because Namine was gone without a trace. Perhaps it was the fact that both were missing and that Axel had obviously been in her room with the elixir.

Without thinking, his hand slipped into his pocket and pulled the elixir out. He lowered his knees, held the flask out in front of himself, and stared at the way the liquid swirled inside the crystal clear glass. Taking note of the way the bright light of the hallway caused a prism effect through the distorted glass, casting rainbows tinted in pink upon his black glove. Then the liquid stilled, the heart pulled back together and bled once more. The illusion was disturbing, a bleeding heart where there had once been such a beautiful image. His fingers suddenly wrapped tightly around the flask, and a second later he had pulled his arm back while clenching his eyes shut. He'd shatter it against the wall, stop it for good. Stop the image within from coming true.

No more emotions.

No more pain.

No more dying hearts.

But something stopped him from flinging the fragile glass to the opposite wall, almost as though a hand had rested on his arm and stilled his actions. That's how vividly he could see her in his mind. The influence she had over him, though he had never spoken to her even once.

"Namine..."

It was strange the way everyone tried to pretend Namine didn't matter all that much; that she was nothing more than a weapon of sorts, simply a means to an end and nothing more. Yet when something was wrong in their selfish little world of darkness there were those who would just lurk outside her door yearning for a sort of comfort only she was able to give. She had a presence like none other, wisdom beyond her years, and a rare thing known as kindness.

Honestly, Roxas wasn't sure how many there were that visited her, but there were definitely a few who frequented her room. He was positive of Demyx, as well as Axel, and he even had suspicions about Zexion of all people. He often wondered if Marluxia spent time around her for the same reason the others did, despite the fact that he was the only Nobody she had ever viciously attacked.

_Viciously attacked_... yes, she had attacked Marluxia. A sharp pencil to the chest right about where the man's heart _should _have been if he were a whole human being. "He must have provoked her," Roxas whispered at the memory, that's what he always told himself when he thought about that night. That was the only feasible reason he could come up with, for she was simply too gentle a soul to be that violent.

The point being that Namine was like a beacon in the darkness for them all. She was the only true warmth and kindness in the entire world for them. She was such a strange and beautiful creation.

With all the fiber of his being, Roxas had hoped that things would be simple. Axel would be there leaning against her door as though he was waiting for him. Roxas could then chew him out for running off and lay the guilt on him really heavy, and they'd wonder off together in search of a way to set things right.

Why couldn't Axel have been found talking things over with the only one that never judged those on the other side of her quarters, but simply listened, trying to make sense of all that was going on. Everything could have worked out so easily.

Or at least Roxas could have had a moment at her door. Just so he could hear her voice for a moment; a song, a faint giggle, anything that could have given him some sort of peace in all this. Given him the strength he needed to carry on. He'd never had the guts to meet her, and yet she was that solid ground he needed to keep from sinking. She was that voice of reason that seemed to still whisper when all else fell silent.

However, all his hopes had been dashed in just a matter of a few seconds. The door was standing open, and that feeling of dread had made his stomach sink as he had turned towards the room and peeked at the vacant and blindingly stark room. And that Elixir, that horrible small thing that had ruined everything, had been sitting on the table innocently glowing in the moonlight. Almost as though it was taunting him.

"What am I supposed to do now?" He simply couldn't think anymore. He lowered the elixir to the ground and hid his face behind his palms.

They both had disappeared somewhere, and now he was scared, honest to goodness frightened. But why? Why was he so afraid? Why did he feel as though someone had rammed an icicle right through his chest the moment he laid eyes on that small flask? Was he afraid Axel had done something to Naminé? Or was he afraid something terrible would happen to her now that she was out? Was she infected? Would Axel have done something so horrible? What would happen if any of those worries tearing at his mind were true?

Roxas closed his eyes, his head tilted to the side just slightly, almost as though he was getting ready to violently try to shake such a dreadful thought from his mind. He tried to fight that fluttering sensation of betrayal; if Axel would do something like that to someone as innocent as Namine knowing full well how his only best friend felt for her, how could he forgive him?

"Axel wouldn't do that..." His own voice sounded so weak and doubtful.

Then there was the fact that she was powerful. The violent way Zexion had taken the elixir's curse flickered across his thoughts. What if she fell like that? If what he had heard Marluxia saying was true, she could kill them all; break their minds down to the very lifeless dolls they were born as. They called her a witch; she could twist memories to what she wished, unlock the chains of the mind and rearrange them to whatever she wished for, or leave you lifeless.

Could he blame her if she lashed out at them? She was the prisoner in all this. She was a caged little bird that longed to be free again. If she could have emotions, and be free as well… Wouldn't she fly if given the chance?

He could almost see it, that smile on her face, the tears in her eyes. If she had wings they would be white and glowing; a beautiful white that would shame the light of Kingdom Hearts. She would fly away, and never look back at them. When no one openly cared for her, why should she care for any of them? She would destroy them and leave them in the dirt where they belonged.

But that elixir was evil. Namine would be freed only to fly away and die alone in a world she doesn't understand.

Laughter broke the silence, and for a split second Roxas was startled. He nearly turned and looked down the hallway to see who had snuck up on him, who would dare laugh at a time like this. And then he realized it was his own voice. His own laughter bubbling up past his lips, but it wasn't any sort of mirthful sound. He looked like he was on the verge of tears, and as he tried to wipe them away a voice in the back of his head panicked at the thought of his turning as well. He silenced it quickly, reminding himself that he hadn't been exposed to the elixir long enough, and besides he'd always been an odd Nobody.

"I hope you're simply free now..." Roxas murmured lowly as he pocketed the elixir again. "Axel's a good guy, I don't believe he'd do that to you. He wouldn't take the chance of hurting anyone so innocent."

Roxas finally shifted, scrambling somewhat clumsily to his feet. "He wouldn't hurt me either..." he finally stated with a tone of strength once again.

That was enough to calm his nerves. Whatever little brief fears he had were wiped away that easily. Just by the faith he held in his best friend. That was all he needed. "There's one other place to check. He might be in the 'usual spot'..." Roxas muttered to himself, turning to leave. "As for Namine..." his voice trailed off to silence as he pushed away from the wall behind him.

"Be free... Namine..." he whispered as he walked onwards down the hall.

Light laughter answered him faintly from further ahead. He froze in place, he could almost feel his chest tighten at the sound. Such a familiar voice, but such a strange sound.

IOIOIOIOIOIOI

"My head hurts..." a weak voice finally muttered against the pale soft shoulder his nose was currently nuzzling ever so slightly.

A delicate laugh, faint, unobtrusive echoed quietly in his ear. "That's what happens when you bawl like that for so long." The words didn't have a single speck of malice or condemnation in them. They were sweet, playful even. Comforting.

"I was not... bawling..." Zexion gagged on the word as though it were bitter. He started to pull away, tried to listen to his brain telling him this was not a situation to get caught in, and yet it felt like whatever last bit of strength he had left had flowed away with the tears.

He wasn't even sure why he had been crying in the first place. What had happened to warrant such an outburst? So he was infected by some strange experiment; this wouldn't be the first time. So he worried about his past, who doesn't worry about the wrongs they've committed? Except, well, a Nobody; which is what he was. He shouldn't be feeling so helpless, so wretched, so useless. But here he was, feeling all that and more at the moment.

No one had ever bothered to care about him. He never cared about anyone else, so why should he expect that? No one ever tried to help him, or comfort him; and for some reason such a tiny selfless act from Namine seemed too much for him. It showed how long it had been since he'd been around anyone with heart.

... A heart?

Zexion's eyes fluttered open, listening to the slight giggle that escaped Namine's lips at his denial of the obvious. He felt her shift, her nose touching his hair as she whispered something he could only take as encouragement if he had bothered to listen. But he was no longer listening to her voice. He was focused on the area his left ear was pressed to; he was trying to filter out the gentle hum of her voice and try to pick up any trace of sound from that vein that lurked just under the surface of her skin.

Nothing... not even so much as a dull thump.

She had no heart.

"Why..." he whispered, confused by her actions. Her soft voice was no longer comforting, it was chilling. Her care was no longer helpful and pleasant, it was strange and alien. She was a Nobody, just like him. She had no heart, just like him. Just like the others. So why?

Namine leaned back a little, her movement pulling him away just slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you care? You shouldn't care... You should be running away; why did you stop for me?" Zexion questioned her, confusion marring his face even more than the tearstains that had dried.

"I couldn't leave you alone..." she started to answer, lifting a delicate hand to the side of his face; her gentle fingers brushing back the hair that hid his eyes from her. He looked strange, confused, and skeptical now.

He interrupted her before she could continue her explanation, shifting away from her touch. "But you shouldn't care. You're a Nobody. We don't have emotions, we don't care what we've done. The only thing that matters to us is ourselves. Why would you go against your nature when you had freedom that close?"

Namine looked him in the eyes; her body language, her expression, everything stayed just as it was. A calm and peaceful escape in a storm of confusion. "It is not my nature. And you're being a fool for thinking it is."

The Cloaked Schemer was taken aback by her words. She had just called him a fool for believing in the truth. The facts of their world, set in stone. It was truth, the only truth they could count on in a world spun of lies.

_"If you believe that, you are a fool."_ Her words were so harsh, and yet she was not judging him. He could feel it, he didn't understand it, but he could just feel that she wasn't making fun of him at all. She was making a point, and the only way to make a point to someone who is stubborn is to be blunt. "But I don't think you're a fool. I don't think you truly believe what you are saying, do you?"

"B-but... A Nobody has no heart... We shouldn't be able to feel... anything... for anyone..."

"But you don't believe that, do you?" Namine interjected, before he could spout the usual Nobody rhetoric. "You say that a Nobody doesn't feel. That a Nobody just remembers what it was like and uses that memory to trick people. To deceive. Well if you believe we are all the same. If you believe that I am the same. Then why did you not push me away?"

For a moment Zexion just blinked at her, for the first time he felt dumbfounded and truly lost. He had been called a fool and then had such a strange question thrown in his face, he didn't know how to respond. And that was simply something he hadn't experienced before. "I... wasn't... I... I guess I wasn't thinking clearly."

"No, you were thinking. You tried to push me away at first. You tried to use your shield against me but you were hurting too much to focus." Namine's voice lowered to a more calming tone. "Instead, you let me stay and comfort you."

Delicate fingers slipped through his hair, and soon he was right back to where he had started. He was once again listening to the silence of an empty, non-existent heartbeat. Namine sighed as if she was dealing with a child that was acting dense. "If you had truly believed that is my nature. The nature of the Nobody to deceive and hurt. You wouldn't let me see the way you were. You would have defended yourself in weakness. You would have gotten up and stormed away. Denied that it ever happened in the first place. You would have locked it away and wished me dead for seeing you like that."

Namine's small hand shifted to his shoulder blade, rubbing a small circle there before stilling. "You trusted me because you know perfectly well that cruelty and deception is not in my nature. I know you wouldn't have forgotten what I'm like. Something is different right now, something has made you start feeling things that you're not used to, but you still remember. If you didn't trust me, you wouldn't have let me stay."

Silence fell over the two Nobodies in the hallway for what seemed like ages, but only managed to be just a few minutes. Namine breathed in deeply, the sound was almost like a sigh. "I stopped for you because you were kind to me when I needed kindness. I couldn't leave you like that... it would have been wrong to turn my back on you after what you've done for me..."

"No." His voice seemed muffled, faint as though it was a struggle to make himself heard. "You would have stopped anyway... even if I hadn't shown you any kindness..."

Something strangely warm slipped to her shoulder and became chilly the moment the air touched her skin. "Now don't start that again," she playfully chuckled, "you'll make your headache worse."

"I can't help it..." he whispered, "I'm emo…"

They both erupted in a fit of giggles at the bad joke, one that Zexion couldn't believe had just come out of his own mouth. Especially after all the times he'd blown up all over people for calling him that. They didn't notice the sound of steps coming closer or the strange way they suddenly stopped. They didn't notice they were not alone until someone gasped and sidestepped around them.

"Woooah... sorry kids, don't mind me..."

Zexion felt as though someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water down his back. That voice he knew just as well as his own still rang in his ears. He jumped to his feet, watching that familiar form inching off sluggishly down the hall. "S-Superior!"

Xemnas didn't flinch, didn't even acknowledge that he had been called. He simply kept chuckling, hands in the air in this strange sort of gesture that seemed to say, "don't mind me, just passing through."

"Superior…?" Zexion started to walk after his leader, but felt Namine grab his hand forcing him to glance back at her.

"Something is not right..." she whispered, worry lacing her words and shining behind her eyes.

"He's been sick. He was poisoned the other week by an escaped lab creature... but he should be fine..." Zexion explained, and started to follow the Superior again.

Namine's grip stayed firm enough to detour him momentarily before she let his gloved hand slip through her fingers. Zexion inched up to Xemnas, studying his movements; he would start to veer off to the left or right, stumble just slightly, but not enough to really look like he was going to fall.

"Xemnas...?" Zexion spoke his name this time, finally getting a reaction out of the man.

The Superior turned, a strange bleary look in his eye. For just a second, Zexion could have sworn he saw the man's eye twitch as though he were irritated. "What?"

The smaller Nobody started to answer, started to ask what was happening, but he was cut off before he could say a word.

"What did you call me?"

Zexion flinched. "I-I mean, Superior..."

Confusion swept across the older man's face, then he teetered backwards a step, finding the wall and leaning heavily upon it like a drunk man that had just stumbled from the bar late at night. Zexion's reflexes urged him to suddenly reach out and grab the man before he slipped to the ground, then his manners kicked in and he released the Superior.

"Sir, are you alright? Should you be out of bed?" Zexion questioned the other man after he was sure he wasn't going to hit the floor.

A brief moment of silence answered him. Zexion then felt Namine's fingers clutching carefully at his sleeve; it was as though she didn't want to be seen by the leader of the Organization, but curiosity just got the best of her.

"Mmm-fine," Xemnas finally slurred. "Don't mind me, kid... I'm fine." He pushed away from the wall and resumed his trek to who knows where.

"But, Sir..." Zexion started to protest his leaving, but stopped short when the Superior suddenly spun around to stare him eye to eye, entirely too close for comfort.

"I don't know where I am... but I'm fine. I've been in worse scrapes in my life, kid... go back to making out with your cute little girlfriend..." Xemnas chuckled, what could only be described as a perverted eyebrow wiggle and a smirk flickering across his face.

Zexion sputtered. "G-girl…friend…? We were **NOT** making out!"

Xemnas had already resumed his way along the white hallways, muttering to himself about the strange decor choices and how it was like an insane asylum in here. Zexion started to take off after him; he had to protest! This was not right, he simply couldn't let the Superior think that he would jeopardize everything so easily. He liked Namine, but not like that. He had to make that known.

His steps came up short again; Namine was pulling a little more forcefully on his arm this time. "He doesn't understand, Zexion."

"What?" Zexion chanced a glance at her, then stared after the slowly moving Nobody leader.

"His mind," Namine whispered. "His mind is gone. Something has happened, complications of what he went through perhaps. It's weakened his mental health. He has no control over himself right now."

"How can you..."

"I just know," Namine stated. "You know my powers. I understand the minds of beings. I understand their memories and I can control them. But there's something strange with his mind. He's wounded badly, his soul is in turmoil."

"If he's so bad off I have to help him, Namine! He's the Superior. I've worked with him longer than most everyone here. I've been with him almost since day one when we had hearts."

"And I'm telling you he does not know you," Namine countered.

"How can he NOT know me!" The anger and hurt Zexion felt suddenly washed over him, he had to beat it back down in order to think properly. "I was one of the Original Six..."

Namine shook her head and sighed. "I don't understand it myself. But I tell you, he does not know you. You cannot reach him. i_YOU/i_... Zexion... cannot reach i_HIM./i_"

Cryptic words, that's what they were, and yet Zexion refused to think about them. He pulled his arm away from her and followed the man he had always looked up to ever since he was little. "I'm not leaving him like this," he finally muttered over his shoulder. "I don't care if he doesn't know me."

The girl sighed and shook her head in defeat, choosing to follow him as well.

Zexion inched closer to the Superior, careful not to bump into him as he stumbled along blindly down the hallway. "Sir...? Sir... Superior...? Xemnas?"

Once again Xemnas spun around and glowered at the smaller Nobody, but the strange irritation melted and a look of exasperation washed over his face "Sheesh kid, leave me alone already. Go back to your girl... you shouldn't leave her waiting... they hate that, you know."

"She's not my girl, we're just... friends..." Zexion opted to somewhat play along. If Xemnas didn't know him, or Namine, then maybe it wouldn't hurt to be associated with her. They wouldn't get in trouble if he didn't know them, right?

"Well either way, kid, women don't like for you to keep them waiting... now shoo..." Xemnas made a sort of pesky fly-shooing motion with his hand.

"Sir, I don't think you should be out of bed... you're still sick... you probably still have a fever or something that is..."

"Kid. You bother me. Go. Away," Xemnas snarled slightly before he stomped off. "I've got better things to worry about than you following me around and finding out something you don't need to know... ugh, I think I'm going to puke..." He stumbled over to the wall, leaning on it again with his arm clutched to his stomach tightly.

Namine ran up, grabbing Zexion's hand before he could rush over to his leader. "Zexion wait.. Just let him be a minute. I think you're upsetting him."

"But Namine..."

"Shhhh... just come with me..." She pulled him back a few paces before she continued to whisper. "I'm sorry, Zexion, but he's sick. You can't keep tormenting him."

"Tormenting? I'm trying to help him!" Zexion protested.

"But you're hurting him... You're irritating him. He doesn't want you to follow him. And when you persist he gets sick. Just let him be. I don't know why but I can't really get into his head now, I can't tell what's really wrong with him but I think he's in turmoil. It's shutting me out. The only thing I'm sure of is that he's looking for something, and you are not it. Leave him be."

"Fine." Zexion growled, defeated but still not giving up. "But I'm following him. I don't want him to run into someone he can't handle right now."

Namine's features softened, almost becoming sad, and really who wouldn't be saddened by such words. To work with people every day or your life, be with them always, yet never trust any of them. No wonder Nobodies are the way they are, no wonder the Organization runs the way it does. It was a world of selfish little people, and that was that. "That should be fine, as long as we stay back far enough that he doesn't sense us here."

"WHO DOES THIS HORRIBLE INTERIOR DESIGN!" Xemnas finally bellowed, before spinning in place, as though he had to make sure he was still heading in the same direction. "I swear whoever it is needs to be shot in the head. Keyblade in the eye, boot up the butt. Ugh, I can't tell if I've been here before or not!"

Zexion and Namine stepped back, watching as he stumbled back onto his original course in a somewhat drunken stupor it seemed. For a split second, Zexion felt the corner of his lip turn upwards, and a faint chuckle tried to escape his lips. He wanted to say, "that would be you, Sir," but he didn't dare utter those words.

They stalked the Superior a little ways, keeping back far enough that they felt they were at a safe distance. Xemnas walked a little further, stopping suddenly as though he were listening for something, then continued on his way. After a few minutes, he did it again.

The strange behavior brought Namine to a stop, releasing her grip she had on Zexion's arm as they walked slowly along watching the man. She noticed the way he kept stopping suddenly and listening, and for some reason it was disturbing her. However, Zexion continued on as though he hadn't noticed, his eyes still on the man he respected so much. The man that was acting like a total nut job.

Once more Xemnas halted suddenly, Zexion took a few more steps before slowing to a stop. An eyebrow rose slowly as he watched Xemnas shift from one foot to the other and sigh. Without warning, the Superior sighed and spun around and stalked up to Zexion.

"Look, short stuff..." Xemnas could practically see the hackles rise on the smaller Nobody, but he ignored it and continued. "I don't know what's going on here, I don't know why you're so bothered with me, but this is really starting to grate on my one last good nerve. I don't like being followed... and..."

Zexion had tensed but he was still holding eye contact with the Superior, searching for any sign of the man he called leader. He noticed the way the golden gaze that had locked so forcefully with his suddenly drifted just over his shoulder as his voice had trailed off.

"OH MY WORD, YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS STRIPPING!" Xemnas bellowed.

"WHAT!" Zexion suddenly spun around looking back at the obviously still fully clothed Namine, who was looking hideously scandalized by the mere suggestion she would even do such a thing.

Laughter suddenly echoed from the hallway, filtering through the confusion and shock and letting them both know he had just pulled a fast one on them both. The Superior had known they were there following him, waited for a nice fork in the hallways, and then set the trap.

"For a crazy sick man, he certainly knows how to push your buttons." Namine finally snorted.

"What... Did he?" Zexion spun back around, running down the hallway to stop at the corner where another hallway branched off the one they were on. "He just pulled a fast one... which way did he go?"

"Your nose is bleeding..." Namine chuckled.

Zexion flinched and quickly ran his hand under his nose only to freeze again as he realized she was joking. He tensed briefly before relaxing and letting out an annoyed grunt. "You read too much manga."

"And whose fault is that?" She smiled sweetly. "And he went around the corner there, laughing..."

"Come on, we have to catch up to him. He can't be left alone." Zexion started to take a step, then realized the destination they were taking and that Namine wasn't budging. She wasn't willing to go back there, not to that lonely white room. He sighed, but didn't look back at her. "I can't just let you go, Namine."

The girl standing behind him didn't answer, she didn't run away either. She just stared at him, yet still smiling.

"But I won't lock you in your room either. So don't worry, as long as you're with me you won't be locked away and alone," Zexion finally finished, casting a glance back at her over his shoulder.

Namine was silent for a few more moments. "Alright."

IOIOIOIOIOIOI

Xemnas was still chuckling to himself as he slowed from his breakneck speed. Even he was aware of the fact that running in the condition he was in really could end in him breaking his neck, but at least he got rid of the strange little couple. Despite his nausea coming back now, and the dizziness, and the way the floor seemed to sway under his feet, he was actually still able to pat his own back for his brilliance.

He swayed a little, losing his balance as he groped for the wall once again. "I really wish the room would stop spinning so..." he muttered as he held himself up from slipping down the wall again. A hand suddenly flew to his stomach and he groaned as that same hand flew to his face. He managed to fight back that wave nausea at least.

After a second, he ran a hand back through his hair and then looked up with bleary vision down his never-ending hallway destination of asylum white.

A golden yellow gaze fell upon that of one the color of clear blue skies, like the worlds of light he remembered. He was locked in that stare for what felt like seconds and at the same time felt like all enternity. His blurred vision suddenly focused, the double image of the figure that stood before him merged to one very familiar form.

One he though he'd never see again.

Roxas slowly stepped closer to the Superior, his hand raising just slightly in a comforting and concerned sort of gesture, reaching towards the strangely weak image of a man he couldn't help but fear. "Superior...? Are you alright?"

Xemnas opened his mouth but choked on the words he wanted to say; only one was able to spill past his lips.

"... Ventus..."

_**~Track 11 End: Memories**_


	12. Crazy

**Notes: ** Another chapter and now we're up to date with DA. Good! I promise as soon as I get 13 back from Darkblade I will update here as well as DA... infact naw,_** YOU**_... you get it first! ha ha! yes... doesn't really matter does it. But I do promise I'll update 13 as soon as I get it back.

_**Warnings for this chapter: **_back when I first started writing Dyme I hadn't played 358/2 Days and BBS was still a distant wish for us... and I speculated a lot on the characters. Obviously I got a lot wrong (I mean I write Demyx to be horribly sweet and somewhat... kind-hearted (lolwut?) And I'm sorry that isn't his character really. He's a coward, uncaring, and he's lazy... according to 358/2 Days. So I'm saying this fic is a bit AU. I will try to bring in his true points a bit more. I always knew he was a bit of a scardy cat but he can't really be so if he could take on Sora the way he did right? So beware the slight AU bits. Also... **I speculated as to who Xemnas was/is**... and... um.. I was right .O so yeah, **accidently spoilers for BBS guys!**

**So my point is this, I'm sorry I try to be as accurate as possible with the characters with what little we're given. Now that we're given more info, I'm a bit wrong here and there. I hope you all don't mind it though and can still enjoy the story.**

* * *

Dyme and the Dozen

Track 12: Crazy

_A golden yellow gaze fell upon that of one the color of clear blue skies, like the worlds of light he remembered. He was locked in that stare for what felt like seconds and at the same time felt like all eternity. His blurred vision suddenly focused, the double image of the figure that stood before him merged into one very familiar form._

One he thought he'd never see again.

_ Roxas slowly stepped closer to the Superior, his hand raising just slightly in a comforting and concerned sort of gesture, reaching towards the strangely weak image of a man he couldn't help but fear. "Superior...? Are you alright?"_

_Xemnas opened his mouth but choked on the words he wanted to say; only one was able to spill past his lips._

_"... Ventus..."_

Roxas blinked, but managed to force the confusion back away from his features. He could be confused all he wanted, but something inside him was telling him that he shouldn't let the Superior see it. There was just something that seemed terribly "off" with this whole situation, and he couldn't shake this feeling that he needed to tread softly when it came to Xemnas.

It also didn't help that the threats of Roxas' litterbug misdeeds from a week ago still hung above him. He had been banking on the hope that when Xemnas pulled back from his stupor he'd forget the punishment for the misdeed caused by a simple empty honey bear that had been chucked out the window a little more than week earlier.

That poisonous bite from Vexen's creature had really knocked Xemnas out cold, just as Vexen had stated it would. A week in a coma-like state, then he'd awaken with possible memory loss and severe nausea and what could only be described as a state much like a hangover. If Xemnas had forgotten the horrible punishment he'd called down upon Roxas everything would be just peachy. No cleaning the entire castle top to bottom in a French maid outfit for the youngest Nobody.

But looking at Xemnas right now, it looked more like he was drunk out of his mind, not suffering the headaches and pains of being hung over. He was staggering, leaning heavily upon the wall for support, flushed to a sickly pale shade; he just looked terrible, not a bit like the usual frightening and powerful leader of the Organization that would growl and slink about the shadows when he had a migraine.

Yet the strangest thing was that look in his eyes, like the older man had found something he'd been searching for a very long time. Something he missed dearly. It was strange, that expression of utter relief that nearly manifested in tears shimmering in the superior's blue eyes.

_Wait...Blue?_

Yes, blue. They were the same blue as the skies of distant worlds where darkness didn't reign for all eternity as it did in theirs. Like the places where even the golden colors of morning twilight only lasted but a moment, and sunlight illuminated the lives of rare light blue the creatures walking the line between darkness and light only saw in but one of their own. The same cerulean shade Roxas saw every morning in the mirror, yet this time mirrored not by reflective glass but the eyes of another.

Roxas finally pulled himself from his stupor, tearing his focus from how strange the Superior looked, from his struggles to remember exactly what shade his eyes _should_ be. There was still an issue here that needed being dealt with, even though he wished with all his being that it didn't have to be dealing with it himself. If what Vexen said was true, then Xemnas was still terribly sick, he certainly shouldn't be out of bed like this. For all Roxas knew, he could even be delusional...

A split second later, Roxas felt strangely strong arms nearly crushing him, pulling him off the ground slightly to let him dangle from the strong grasp like a ragdoll. He could almost swear he heard his brain misfire and sputter to death like an old beat up car engine.

The Superior was hugging him.

Xemnas.

The most powerful leader of all Nobodies...was...hugging...him.

Permanent stick up the bum, crabby, angry, booming voiced, ALMIGHTY EVIL LEADER XEMNAS...was now hugging him for dear life and choking back tears.

"Ven...Ven..." Xemnas choked, struggling to keep his composure, and yet not caring that he seemed weak right now. "I never thought I'd see you again..."

For a moment Roxas' mouth moved, like a fish out of water that would be gasping for breath. He needed to say something, right? But what should he say? There were so many questions running wildly through his head now, but he just couldn't think where to begin. Meanwhile, what he did want to say sounded so wrong in his mind. How do you ask your leader, "Why are you hugging me?" "Who's Ven?" And the worst being, "Are you completely whack-job-off-your-nut _insane_?"

Yet strangely this unusual embrace, this whole situation somehow, pulled at the shadowed edges of Roxas' mind. It felt strangely familiar, like a distant memory, perhaps even a long forgotten dream that he couldn't quite place. Maybe it was reminding him of all the times Axel had yanked him up like this just to torment him. Or the times Demyx had thrown himself on him from some height like an attacking house cat. It felt strangely comforting and yet disconcerting all at once.

Xemnas suddenly must have registered though his dizzy mental haze that Roxas was not responding the way he thought he would have. Instead of the warm welcome he had expected, he could suddenly feel that the smaller boy had tensed uncomfortably.

He suddenly released Roxas, stepping back a fraction. "Uuuuhhhrr...nothing funny. I was just sayin'...it was a manly man hug...yeah."

The corner of Roxas' mouth twisted up just slightly, almost as though he was about to laugh but wasn't sure if he should. For some reason, Xemnas was reminding him so much of Axel, or perhaps now he was calling forth the playfulness that Xigbar possessed. Well, at least those few rare times he could actually find it in himself to actually _like_ Xigbar, and take his annoying chiding as simply playfulness.

The Superior face-palmed in a swift movement and then muttered rather loudly, "Thanks a lot, Aqua, you and your stupid little jokes."

Roxas finally did laugh at this. He wasn't sure what that all meant, but he couldn't help recalling how distant and jumpy Demyx had gotten when Zexion had explained some of the "code words" of the common doujinshi fandom to him. He was terrified for weeks after that anything he did would be misconstrued as something totally and epically wrong. This was exactly the way the Superior was acting now, and for some reason he couldn't explain why it just felt...right.

Xemnas finally relaxed again, reaching out to lay a heavy hand on Roxas's hair and ruffle it up even more than it already was. It was just such a strange and familiar scene, confusing and yet comforting. Roxas actually couldn't remember ever being this comfortable around the Superior, and somehow that fact coming to light now seemed so strangely sad. Something deep within kept whispering that perhaps this was truly the way it should be, and the Xemnas he knew before was a lie.

"S...Superior..." Zexion gasped as he finally slowed from his jogging down the hallway. "What in the world got into you...?" He was actually relieved that it was only Roxas that had come across the Superior in such a situation; it could have been so much worse, that's for sure.

Xemnas rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well it made you look, didn't it? And I got my chance to get away from you, but obviously I didn't go far enough."

"You're in no condition to be left alone right now! And to say something like that about Namine! She was horrified!" Zexion barked. Sick or not, he had to call his leader on being _that_ rude, especially to one of his most loyal subordinates and one as innocent as Namine.

Namine stepped out from behind Zexion. "Actually... it was funny after the first initial shock. Or correction, _you_ were funny." She poked Zexion in the arm, the smile on her face reaching up into her eyes causing them to sparkle beautifully.

Roxas jerked the moment he saw her and shifted behind Xemnas, using him like a shield to hide from her radiance. Xemnas glanced over his shoulder briefly, confused for just a split-second before he understood the cause of such a reaction. A knowing smile tipped the corner of his lips upwards for just a second before he let out another sigh and put his hands on his hips, hiding the smaller Nobody a little better.

"See, I've been pardoned, no harm done then." Xemnas shrugged just slightly. "So you're really not...his girlfriend?" He ignored the sharp jab he felt in the small of his back from the Nobody using him as a shield.

"OF COURSE SHE ISN'T!" Zexion bellowed again, almost the exact reaction he had the first time.

An evil sort of glint shined in Xemnas' eyes for a second. He chuckled, lifting his chin to glance behind him again. "Well isn't that good news...Some would think that was good news... very good news..."

Roxas jabbed Xemnas again then started chanting something barely above a whisper, something about "makeitgoaway," or something along those lines. Xemnas couldn't quite hear it but he knew he had successfully gotten Roxas' goat. His little companion obviously had a strange little crush on the blonde girl.

How cute.

Namine carefully stepped to the side, gazing first at Xemnas and slowly focusing down on the second pair of feet she could just barely see behind him. She seemed to brighten as she inched closer, her flat smile from before seemed to start taking on a little more life and true feeling behind it as she began to realize whom it was trying desperately to hide from her.

Roxas was now clinging to the hem of Xemnas' white tank top, clenching his eyes shut as tightly as possible and his chant was now shifting to something more along the lines of, "ohcrapohcrapohcrap," before he finally fell silent and clenched his teeth.

After a few seconds of wondering if the universe would be kind enough to open a black hole under his feet and suck him in, he finally gave up and carefully cracked open an eye to peek over in the direction he thought Namine was. She was there. She was peeking at him in almost the same fashion, slightly hidden by Xemnas, but she was smiling, with one delicate hand lifted to her pale pink-tinted lips.

"It's so cute, like puppies, I swear...So sweet..." Xemnas snorted in a low voice, but still didn't make a move to get out from between them. "I need to brush my teeth now."

Roxas twitched, it was almost as though he suddenly got a mental image of how pathetic he looked and was now desperately trying to scrap together what little dignity he had. He quickly released Xemnas's shirt and stepped back, clearing his throat as though he wanted to say something, but nothing would come out of his mouth. He couldn't even quite bring himself to look up at her face, his gaze darting everywhere but to her.

"Good grief, Ven, say something...this is worse than the time I first met you." Xemnas chuckled and then glanced up at Namine and winked. "I'm trying to teach him to talk, but all he can do right now is get his feathers ruffled and squawk."

That statement got a horrified glare and a slap to the arm from the smaller boy, and then it was as though he suddenly realized whom he had just slapped on the arm and he drew back with wary unease. For some reason he kept forgetting it was Xemnas he was standing with, not Axel. "I-I can talk...I j-just..."

"... Don't know what to say?" Namine filled in, a slightly sad smile still gracing her features.

"I don't know where to start..." Roxas corrected.

The slight sadness that had shadowed her lifted as a playful smile wiped it away clean on her lips, forcing her eyes to sparkle again. "I can understand that. Too much to say is far better than nothing at all. It just means that it will take a little time to get to know someone. To find the answers to all the questions, to get to know everything you always wanted to know about someone you see pass by every day. Just time and one little word to begin the new journey that will follow..."

Roxas smiled brightly. "...Hello."

A giggle erupted from the blonde girl, her delicate hand flying up to her lips to stifle it. "Yes, exactly."

Xemnas stepped back, shaking his head slightly in a manner that seemed both amused and exasperated. That took a little too much pushing, that was for sure. It made him wonder exactly how long those two had been eyeballing each other from across the room like a silly little high school novel. His gaze then fell on Zexion, who looked strangely tense. His dark blue eyes were shifting between the two, now quietly fumbling about in their talking back to the taller Nobody.

"Sorry, did I spoil something?" Xemnas finally spoke up after watching the strange way the smaller man cautiously eyed him.

"W-wha..." Zexion almost muttered, but remembered who he was talking to and cleared his throat. "Whatever do you mean, Sir?"

"I mean, you did like her, didn't you?...I shouldn't have butted in, but I could tell that Ve..."

"I had no interest in her beyond that of a friendly acquaintance," Zexion interrupted, and then tilted his head slightly to consider the man before him more carefully. "I was actually wondering why you were interested in this scene at all. No, more than that...I know you're not feeling well, but this seems beyond anything you would ever do. Impaired or not."

"Sheesh, Kid, you make it sound like I'm drunk. So I have a little head cold, I always get vertigo when I get sick...Not that you would know that." Xemnas snorted. "So I see my friend has obviously been trying to talk to her for a while...I just gave him a little push. It's not like the world is going to come to some fiery crashing end just because I poked around in it a little."

For a moment, Zexion just stared at him, locking gazes with him for what seemed like an eternity to Xemnas, and then slowly tilted his head, almost squinting in a cynical sort of fashion. "Now that's interesting."

Xemnas could almost feel a shiver run down his back and then suddenly felt the icy grip of paranoia kick in. He tried to think about the situation he was in, tried to think back to earlier moments, yesterday even... nothing was coming back to him. How did he even end up here? What sort of situation was he in right now?

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously, trying to get a good grasp on the events happening around him.

"I mean–" Zexion paused, still inspecting his Superior like he were a butterfly tacked to a board. "When have you ever called any of us 'friend'? And when have you ever so much as pretended to care about something so insignificant as a teenage love affair. This isn't like you at all and I seriously don't think it would be like you even if you weren't smashed out of your skull."

"I would never deny friends I trust as much as Ven or Aqua. To say something like that about me as though you think you know me only proves the important fact that I do not call you friend because I do not know you." Xemnas' tone had changed, becoming strangely colder and guarded. It sounded a little more like Xemnas and yet still so strange to Zexion's ears.

"You honestly don't know who I am...do you?" Zexion stated the fact as dryly as if he were reading jargon out of a medical journal.

"I'm sorry, but I've never met you before in my life..." Xemnas stated just as dryly as Zexion had.

Silence fell over the small area of the hallway that they were standing in, a sort of crushing and uneasy silence. Xemnas suddenly became aware that even the two teenagers next to him had stopped stumbling about trying to talk to each other and were now staring at them. Yet he didn't show it, for some reason he continued to glare at the shorter man in front of him. He was starting to feel like a protective alpha wolf standing between an unknown threat and two of his pups. It was a mental image that normally would have made him laugh, but that strange sense of danger that seemed to almost pour off the other forced him to keep it in.

Zexion shrugged while tilting his head, breaking the wave of dark unease. It was almost as though he had flipped off the "I'm horribly threatening" switch and he now seemed like a normal teenage, yet slightly emo, boy. He suddenly stuck out his hand in a friendly gesture after shrugging the whole thing off. "Well, my mistake, you looked like someone I once knew. I'm Ienzo."

Xemnas only hesitated a second before he gripped the hand held out to him and shook it. "Ienzo...?" He paused on the name, almost as though he might have been thinking hard about it. Perhaps he remembered it, but then he shrugged it off and gave the hand in his one last squeeze before releasing him. "I'm Terra..."

The tension washed away completely, and Xemnas – or Terra as he was calling himself now – suddenly became aware that he was still sick as a dog. It was actually worse thanks to the territorial bout he just had with short little emo punk kid.

"Oh for the love of Queen Minnie, I think I'm going to hurl..." He quickly spun around facing the two blondes behind him.

Roxas pointed over his shoulder. "Bathroom two doors down on the left."

Terra muttered a "yeah" and then shot off like a scalded cat.

Namine's eyes widened. "But isn't that the third floor bathroom I've been hearing horrible things about?"

"Well, yeah, but he's going to puke anyway..." Roxas cringed and then shifted his attention to Zexion, who was still standing in silence staring out blankly in the direction the Superior had gone.

"You understand now," Namine stated, seemingly oblivious to the strange look she got from Roxas.

"He remembers who he is..." Zexion whispered. "He finally remembers who he used to be. And we, the entire Organization, are simply nothing to him. We're not even so much as a speck in his eye. So yes, I understand what you were trying to tell me, Namine. I couldn't reach him because he doesn't know me. But how could you tell just by looking at him?"

"I guess I'm just mysterious that way." Namine smiled. "He was lost and confused, looking for a familiar face...and we were not what he was looking for. That's all there was to it."

"But he is?" Zexion pointed at Roxas. "He never seemed bothered to so much as glance at the kid. Aside from his ability to use the keyblade, Xemnas could care less...no insult intended..."

Roxas blandly shrugged. "None taken," he stated with an almost sarcastic tone, and one could almost swear he had added "jerk" to the end of that statement. "What I'd like to know is why he's calling me Ven and acting so friendly. I've never seen him act friendly with anyone in the whole time I've been here."

"That's because the Superior _never_ acts friendly. He can't act friendly because he can't _act_ like he has emotions at all." Zexion stated.

Namine closed her eyes; her smile fading completely as she visibly clenched her teeth. She must have caught the feeling of Roxas looking at her because she quickly plastered on a smile again and shrugged. "The Superior is unique."

"Yeah, he's unique among us, just like Roxas. Neither can remember where they came from, which is my point." Zexion almost growled.

"Yes, I know the point your making and I'm saying once again that you are wrong," Namine stated, the cheerful tone she usually carried cracking and splitting apart.

"Woo-snap." Roxas chuckled, if he had a heart this is where it would have started racing.

For a moment, Zexion could feel himself clench his teeth and start to grind them. He had tolerated it before because she was calling him wrong in order to comfort him, but this time was different. She was talking to him as though he were a simple child that didn't know any better. It was one of the things he couldn't stand. Not then in Ansem's laboratory, not now. And to make it all worse, Roxas was making fun of him... Zexion... the one who carries a lexicon everywhere and can take anyone down with the knowledge he held not only in his hands but also in his own mind.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Zexion finally ground out the question, but yet didn't give her a chance to answer. "You know as well as I do that we, as Nobodies, have no hearts and therefore no emotions. We have to look back on our memories of our past lives and use our knowledge to pretend that we are normal in order to blend in with the locals of whatever worlds we're sent to. It is our only relief from the burden we bear, from that knowledge that we are not even human. We're not even supposed to exist. We're just actors dancing around on a stage shadowed in darkness."

"You're getting angry with me," Namine stated.

Zexion was taken aback for a second, then groaned. "I...I'm not angry. I couldn't get angry really..." He paused a moment before muttering, "...with you..."

Roxas glanced between the two of them, waiting to see which one of them would finish it. He didn't have to wait but a moment before Zexion spoke up again.

"I'm not angry...I'm sorry."Zexion's tone shifted from irritated to almost sad. "Some of us are losing control of things and experiencing strange side effects thanks to the pranks Axel is pulling with that cursed elixir of Vexen's...but that does not change the fact that we are still Nobodies, and a Nobody doesn't have _true_ emotions. It also doesn't change the point I was making that Xemnas never showed any sort of emotion before simply because he was unique thanks to his lost memory."

Namine simply smiled sweetly, and yet Roxas could almost feel a shiver run down his spine at the look. It was so fake, and yet deceptive if you hadn't really looked into her blue eyes and seen that coldness there. "It's fine, don't worry about it. I wasn't insulted because I know you were not casting it upon me, but simply defending what you truly believe."

A sigh escaped Zexion's lips. "I knew you would understand..."

"But...then why does Roxas show them?" Namine delicately tapped her lip with her fingernail.

Both Roxas and Zexion jerked their attention to the young girl, taken aback by the obvious truth of her words. It was a question that floated around the Organization, but yet for some reason nobody had dared to come out with it. It was almost as though they feared looking into it. Even Vexen had decided to pass on the opportunity to seek out more truth behind the two unique Nobodies of the Organization. Mostly though, it was the fear of Xemnas shoving a boot up his butt that kept him in check.

"YOU LITTLE SNOT NOSED PUNK!" A booming voice suddenly broke into the conversation.

Instinct kicked in, he could feel that intense bitter anger looming over him and drawing closer at an alarming rate. Light shimmered for just a second as a keyblade formed in Roxas' grip, but before he even had a chance to react he found himself kissing the marble floor, his keyblade knocked backwards from his grip and skidding down the hallway behind him.

"You and your flaming buddy have 'a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy!" That annoying voice and painful knee now planted firmly in the small of Roxas' back could only belong to one Nobody.

"X..Xig..bar..." Roxas ground out after he finally fought the hand on the back of his head and shifted his head enough that he wasn't practically frenching the dirty floor any longer. "W...what..."

"Don't you 'what' me, Kid. You know perfectly well what's been going on around here. I know you tag along after that idiot like some sort of freakish lost pup, so don't even TRY to back out of this, tch...As if..." Xigbar pushed on Roxas' head a little, the pressure causing the boy to grunt and try to wriggle out of the vice-like grip he had on him.

Xigbar glanced up and Namine when she gasped. "Well now...someone let the little canary out of the cage. You're just going all out aren't you, Squirt. What, you figured if you're in this deep why not go all the way? Ha, well that's not the important thing right now. I could care less. The important thing is what your bro did to mine..."

Roxas felt the pressure on his head lessen only to feel himself being dragged upwards by the hair and the vice-like grip on his chin tork his head to peer behind them down the hallway. "You see that... Xaldin... my main man... he's acting really strange..."

Xalden was leaning heavily on Luxord down the hallway, and now that his captor was silent, Roxas could barely hear the off-key tune of "Oh Danny Boy" being slurred from the dark haired nobody who was chuckling to himself as much as he was singing.

"S-so he's trashed..." Roxas stammered, but was cut off abruptly when his head met the marble floor again, quickly and mercilessly.

Namine squeaked again and tried to protest the rough treatment, but Xigbar held a finger up without even looking at her. "Step off, Missy...this doesn't concern you."

"Now then, where were we...? Oh yes, your dear BFF has done wrong to me and mine. He tried to get all three of us with some sort of poison I know you two have been cooking up all week. And now you're going to tell me where he is...got it?"

"I...don't...k-know," Roxas ground out, sounding too weak in his own ears. He was starting to wonder if the shame of getting the snot kicked out of him in front of Namine like this was worse than the pain in his head and back.

A sharp tug lifted the smaller boy up momentarily before his head connected with the cold floor again. He couldn't help but let out a groan when he felt a sharp pain and tasted the coppery taste of blood on the back of his tongue. "Now, I think you're lying. You always know where he is. And you're going to btell me/b where he is bright now/b. Or we could be here all night, I don't mind bashing what little brains you have out all over the floor."

"Xigbar, he really doesn't know, they split up a while..." Zexion started to protest as well, recalling the way Axel had fled the scene back in his room.

Once more Roxas' head was shoved down into the marble. "You know how they say every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings...well, every time one of you tries to stick their nose in my business here with the kid...he loses another brain cell out his ear."

Namine gasped, almost sounding like a squeaking mouse as she clasped both hands over her mouth. Zexion glanced at her and then gritted his teeth. "Xigbar, stop it! HE DOESN'T KNOW! And if you keep this up I'll inform the Superior that you're overstepping your bounds and trying to kill one of his most useful subordinates."

"OH-HO! So the little bookworm is going to run and tell mommy! How sweet..." Xigbar pushed up from his death hold on the small Nobody, making sure to put unnecessary pressure on the boy's back and head as he did so.

Roxas started to get up, but felt himself get dragged on his knees a step closer to Zexion. Xigbar still had a firm grip on the hood of his jacket, obviously wary of the boy trying to escape his "deserved punishment."

"Now, just for that, I'm going to take you down, too, you pansy..."

A strange yet familiar whirling noise cut Xigbar off before he could drag Roxas any further and snatch onto Zexion as well. He turned just in time for a keyblade to whip dangerously close to his nose and go sailing on past. A strange sort of cold nipped at his skin as he slowly started to turn and face his new enemy; something clicked though and he ducked just as the keyblade rebounded back and almost took him out from behind.

Xigbar started to let out a victory guffaw, he was about to pat himself on the back for being able to remember that deadly little strike-raid the brat so loved to use. But the only sound that came out of him was the winded grunt as a bare foot connected with his chest and sent him sprawling across the floor.

Dazed from the attack, he fought the spinning displaced feeling and started to stand, reading for the next attack, but he didn't make it up off the floor. The foot that knocked him away was now firmly planted in his gut, as was the still-cold metal of the keyblade at his throat. He finally opened his eye and glared up as his attacker, only to widen his eye in horror at the one hovering above him.

"Leave them alone...and move along," Xemnas stated, almost in a sweet, even tone.

"But how..." Xigbar stared at Xemnas and then at the keyblade he was firmly holding to his throat.

"Shut up. I don't want to listen to you...you're as annoying as Hades. If I ever catch you laying a hand on Ven again, I'll remove it..." Xemnas sneered down at the other Nobody.

It was almost as though a light flickered on, realization washing over Xigbar as he stared up at the Superior. The demeanor, the fighting style, the look in those eyes. "Ah ha, so you remember who you are?"

"Like I said...I don't want to listen to you," Xemnas said cooly. "Now I want you to go away and leave us alone."

"Ha, as if, mon capitaine..." Xigbar almost couldn't help but revel in the confusion he saw flicker across Xemnas' face. No...not Xemnas. This face was the familiar face of a keyblade "master" he could forever see behind the eye patch. The image burned into his now lost eye for all eternity. This was Terra, only slightly shadowed by the image of Xemnas.

"That little brat over there has messed up my friend and he's going to tell me where that other little jerk is, to set it right, you know."

"Whatever Ven did is most likely nothing compared to the things you've done to him and others. I have no sympathy for you. Now if you don't agree to get out of our faces and move along I'll be forced to take matters into my own hands."

"Oh really? And what will you do about it, hmm? Think you've won just because you got the upper hand momentarily?" Xigbar snorted, sneering at the keyblade that pressed into his throat.

Xemnas lifted the keyblade from his neck only to gently tap it against Xigbar's eye patch. "…Do I really need to take the other one?"

Xigbar threw his hands up and chuckled in surrender. "I give, I give...now point your keyblade elsewhere, huh...I'll move along, I don't want any trouble..."

Before the Nobody under his foot could continue his weak pleadings to escape his wrath, Terra felt the keyblade shudder in his hand, darkness seemed to congeal around his grip on the hilt; wafting away like a dark sticky smoke. A second later, the keyblade disappeared from his grasp and suddenly materialized in Roxas' hands.

Terra straightened up, stepping away from the Nobody on the ground and cast a weary glance over his shoulder at the smaller blond Nobody that was now holding the keyblade in his hands and staring at it in a bewildered sort of fashion. A second later, a sigh escaped his lips. "You're right...I know it..." Terra muttered to himself, addressing not the boy, but the blade he now held.

Roxas glanced up at his Superior in confusion, but found only a stern countenance that didn't really want to make eye contact with him. So many questions now, questions he was going to have to save for later now that the dull sound of bawling was echoing in his ears.

This day just keeps going from worse to weird...

_**~End Track 12 : Crazy**_


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